They serve as a defense mechanism of plants that have no choice but to conduct a chemical warfare with all its. These substances prevent the herbivores, insects, fungi, pathogens, parasites, etc.. Most spices contain dozens of secondary substances - a recipe for survival. They are responsible for the colour and organoleptic properties such as the deep purple color of blueberries and the characteristic smell of the garlic. The term is used for substances which have a biological importants - antioxidants, but are not essential nutrients.
Scientists estimate that there are about 10, different phytochemicals that can have a positive effect in diseases such as cancer, stroke and others. Over time, man has learned that in addition to providing flavour, spices protect against harmful microorganisms that are transmitted through food. All that thanks to phytochemicals. Ultimately, these same insects, fungi, pathogens, parasites and whatnot, attack the food we eat daily.
The use of spices was an obvious solution to this problem for our ancestors. The practice goes even further. In many, if not all cultures can be seen traditional remedies based on a range of spices. There is little evidence that spicy food in hot countries is an adaptation to reducing infection risk.
A growing body of literature in the behavioral, ecological and pharmacological sciences suggests that animals use certain plants for the control of parasite infection and related illnesses. It has … Expand. View 1 excerpt, cites background. People have always been attracted to foods rich in calories, fat and protein, yet the biblical admonition that meat be eaten "with bitter herbs" suggests that unpalatable plants play an important … Expand.
View 1 excerpt, references background. View 10 excerpts, references background and methods. Capsicum production, technology, chemistry, and quality. Part 1: History, botany, cultivation, and primary processing. Spices, Condiments and Seasonings. Spices, Condiments, and Seasonings has been written for use as a text in food technology and as a general reference book for anyone associated with the food industry who has a desire to know more … Expand.
There is a renewed interest in the antimicrobial properties of spices. In vitro activities of several ground spices, their water and alcohol extracts, and their essential oils have been demonstrated … Expand.
Highly Influential. View 3 excerpts, references methods and background. Neptune's gift, a history of common salt. Common salt--a substance seemingly too ordinary to think about, yet it is the oldest of our raw materials and the basis of some of our newest inventions. Mythology and folklore abound in stories and … Expand. Among countries, as average temperature increased, so did the frequency of use of chilis, garlic, and onion Figures 6 and 7 , as well as that of anise, cinnamon, coriander, cumin, ginger, lemongrass, turmeric, basil, bay leaf, cardamom, celery, cloves, green peppers, mint, nutmeg, saffron, and oregano see also Hirasa and Takemasa There were negative relationships between temperature and frequencies of use for 10 other spices, but they were significant only for dill and parsley, neither of which has potent antimicrobial activity.
Garlic Liliaceae: Allium sativum; top , onion Allium cepa; top , and chilis Solanaceae: Capsicum frutescens; bottom grow in all countries we sampled and have powerful antimicrobial effects. Photos: Thomas Neuhaus, Neuhaus Features.
Modifedfrom Billing and Sherman Prediction 3. A greater proportion of bacteria should be inhibited by recipes from hot climates than from cool climates. In support of this prediction, as average annual temperatures increased among countries, the mean fraction of recipes that called for each one of the highly inhibitory spices used in those countries increased significantly Figure 8a.
However, this correlation did not hold for less inhibitory spices Figure 8b. There was also a positive relationship between the fraction of bacterial species inhibited by each spice and the fraction of countries that used that spice, indicating widespread use of the spices that are most effective against bacteria.
To further test this corollary, we tried to determine if spices used in each country are particularly effective against local bacteria. Unfortunately, however, no comprehensive lists of indigenous bacteria are available for any country in our sample. The target bacteria were those that have been challenged experimentally with the greatest number of spices, including such widespread species as Aeromonas hydrophila, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus subtilus, Clostridium botulinum, Listeria monocy'togene s, Escherichia coli, Salmonella pullorum, Staphylococcus aureus , and Streptococcus faecalis.
Results of this analysis Figure 9 showed that as annual temperatures increased, the estimated fraction of food spoilage bacteria inhibited by the spices in each country's recipes increased significantly.
Therefore, the cuisine of hotter countries potentially has greater antibacterial activity. Prediction 4. Within a country, cuisine from high latitudes and elevations i.
We located regional cookbooks for only two countries, China and the United States. Consistent with the prediction, in both countries the total number of spices used, the fraction of recipes that called for at least one spice, and the frequency of use of highly inhibitory spices were greater in southern regions than in northern regions.
The mean number of spices per recipe was greater in southern China than in northern China, but no such difference was evident in the United States Table 1. In both countries, the spices called for in an average southern recipe had significantly greater antibacterial potential than those in northern recipes, mirroring the among-country pattern Billing and Sherman Because altitude-specific cookbooks are rare, we were unable to evaluate how altitude affects spice use.
Prediction 5. Quantities of spices called for in recipes should be sufficient to produce antimicrobial effects, and cooking should not destroy the potency of phytochemicals. The primary literature in food microbiology that we surveyed usually reported the minimum concentrations of purified phytochemicals that were necessary to inhibit growth of foodborne bacteria in vitro. Typically, these were solutions containing 0.
However, there are as yet no analyses of how different amounts and types of spices affect microorganisms in cuisine. Evaluating the antimicrobial efficacy of various spices in vivo i.
Regarding the effects of cooking, most phytochemicals are thermostable, although a few are destroyed by heat Moyler Some spices e. If, as seems likely, thermostable spices are the ones added early and thermolabile spices are added later or are used primarily as condiments , differences in timing of use may function to maintain beneficial antimicrobial properties and corresponding flavors until food is served.
These patterns in the timing of use may relate to differences in the thermal stability of different spices.
Pepper and lemon and lime juice are among the most frequently used spices Figure 3 , but they are unusual in that the frequency with which they are used does not change much across the temperature gradient Figure Moreover, they are among the least effective bacteriocides Figure 4.
Relationships between each non-regional country's mean annual temperature and the proportion of that country's meat-based recipes that call for two spices pepper or lemon or lime juice that have low antimicrobial activity but that may potentiate the antimicrobial effects of other spices.
We believe that the second explanation is correct, and we suggest that pepper and citric acid play special roles—that is, as synergists. Citric acid potentiates the antibacterial effects of other spices because low pH disrupts bacterial cell membranes Booth and Kroll Foods to which lemon or lime juice are added require less heating to cause the same levels of bacterial mortality that take place in foods cooked at higher pH and temperature for a longer time.
Black pepper comes from Piper nigrum , an exclusively tropical plant that has several useful properties. For example, the compound piperine inhibits the ubiquitous, deadly bacterium Clostridium botulinum Nakatani Many other spices exhibit greater antibacterial potency when they are mixed than when used alone Ziauddin et al. Some are combined so frequently that the blends have acquired special names.
Sausages botulus in Latin are a rich medium for bacterial growth and have frequently been implicated as the source of botulinum toxin. Other blends, such as curry powder which contains 22 different spices , pickling spice 15 spices , and chili powder 10 spices , are broad-spectrum antimicrobial melanges. In addition to their uses in cooking, individual spices and blends are employed as coloring agents, antivirals including suppressing HIV , brain stimulants, and aphrodisiacs Hirasa and Takemasa Among traditional societies, many spice plants also have ethnopharmaco-logical uses, often as topical or ingested antibacterials and vermicides Chevallier , Cichewicz and Thorpe A few spices, particularly garlic, ginger, cinnamon, and chilis, have for centuries been used to counteract a broad spectrum of ailments, including dysentery, kidney stones, arthritis, and high blood pressure Johns , Duke However, the use of spices in food preparation differs from medicinal use in three ways.
In cooking, spices are used without regard to diners' health status, they are used in tiny quantities, and they are routinely added to specific recipes. By contrast, in medicinal usage, spices are taken in response to particular maladies, in large quantities, and not with any particular dish—more like swallowing a pill than preparing a meal. Undoubtedly, much of this plant material serves as nutrition, for example, when meat is scarce. Moreover, some animals that store food add plants with antibacterial and antifungal properties to their caches e.
In light of the beneficial effects of spices, why aren't spices used equally often everywhere? The answer probably lies in the costs of spice use, including financial costs to procure parts of plants that do not grow locally e.
Indeed, Ames et al. The implication is that too much of a good thing can be bad. In hot climates, benefits of avoiding foodborne illnesses and food poisoning apparently outweigh the various costs of spices. But in cool climates, where unrefrigerated foods decay more slowly, benefits of further retarding spoilage may not be worth the costs and risks. Even in countries where spices are heavily used, pre-adolescent children Rozin and women in their first trimester of pregnancy Profet typically avoid highly spiced foods, especially meats.
These differences in spice use may have a similar adaptive basis. For example, Profet suggested that morning sickness may function to reduce maternal intake of foods containing teratogens during the early phase of embryogenesis, when delicate fetal tissues are most susceptible to chemical disruption. Indeed, women who experience morning sickness are less likely to miscarry than women who do not Weigel and Weigel Young children, who are growing rapidly, may also be particularly sensitive to environmental mutagens.
Once pregnancy has progressed into the second trimester and once children reach puberty, the dangers of food poisoning and foodborne illnesses may again outweigh the mutagenic risks associated with phytochemicals Flaxman and Sherman in press. The antimicrobial hypothesis is not the only explanation that has been proposed to explain spice use; however, careful consideration of the alternatives reveals that all have significant flaws. For example, one proximate hypothesis is that spices disguise the smell and taste of spoiled foods Govindarajan However, the problem with this hypothesis as an ultimate evolutionary explanation is that it ignores the potentially serious negative consequences of ingesting foods laced with bacteria or their toxins.
Even poorly nourished individuals would often be better off if they recognized and passed up foods containing potentially deadly spoilage microorganisms.
A second proximate alternative to explain spice use is that spicy foods are preferred in hot climates because they increase perspiration and help cool the body evaporatively. However, although chilis and horseradish can cause sweating in some people, most spices do not have this effect Rozin and Schiller Thus, evaporative cooling cannot be a general explanation for the increased spice use in hot climates.
Moreover, physiological mechanisms of temperature regulation obviously operate to keep us cool without the necessity of finding, eating, and dealing with the potentially negative side effects of phytochemicals. One alternative ultimate hypothesis for spice use is that wherever spices are difficult to obtain and are therefore expensive, individuals signal their wealth and social status e. This hypothesis would apply primarily to spice plants with restricted ranges e. However, it does not predict or explain the multiple positive correlations between temperature and spice use we found for spices that are available ubiquitously e.
Also, this hypothesis is difficult to reconcile with the fact that the rarest spices tend to be used most commonly in the tropics, because it is in these locations where the plants are endemic and, presumably, therefore, least expensive. A second alternative ultimate hypothesis is that spices supply chemicals that, in small quantities, have beneficial effects other than inhibiting food spoilage microorganisms. For example, certain phytochemicals, especially those found in garlic and onions, can aid digestion, modulate energy metabolism, and even help postpone some degenerative diseases, such as diabetes and cancer Johns and Chapman Some other phytochemicals, particularly those in cloves, rosemary, sage, pepper, and mace, are powerful antioxidants Lin , Hirasa and Takemasa By retarding the oxidation of oil or fat, phytochemicals help preserve foods and also reduce the production of free radicals, which have been linked to cancer and aging.
These effects are undeniably important, but they probably do not represent the primary reason for spice use because not all spices have these beneficial properties. Moreover, the need for micronutrients or antioxidants does not predict or explain the use of spices in recipes or the multiple positive correlations between temperature and spice use shown in Figures 5 , 7 , 8 , and 9.
Finally, it is also possible that spice use may not confer any benefits. Under this hypothesis, patterns of spice use arise because people just take advantage of whatever aromatic plants are available to improve the taste of their food. Perhaps the phytochemicals in spices happen to resemble those found in sought-after foods, such as fat and sugar Rozin and Vollmecke , and as a result spices taste good. If this idea were correct, spice chemicals should be highly palatable, and spice-use patterns should correspond to local availability of spice plants.
However, neither prediction is fully supported. Although some spices are initially appealing e. Indeed, the capsaicin receptor is a heat-activated ion channel in the pain pathway Caterina et al. For most unpalatable substances, an initial negative response is sufficient to maintain avoidance throughout life.
However, preferences for spices develop during individuals' lifetimes, usually under familial guidance. Parents encourage their children to use spices, and most children eventually come to like or at least accept them, implying that spice use is beneficial. In addition, spices are not necessarily more available in hot climates than in cool ones. There is no relationship between the number of countries in which each spice plant grows i.
Because spices have been cultivated for thousands of years in the Old World Zohary and Hopf and hundreds of years in the New World Coe , it seems likely that these patterns of spice plant availability reflect those that occurred when traditional recipes were developing. Thus, correlations between spice use and annual temperature must be due to people in hot countries using a larger proportion of whatever spices are available locally or importing more spices.
Of course, the spice trade Figure 2 facilitates the use of nonindigenous spices. For example, onion and pepper are the two most frequently used spices in the world Figure 3. Allium grows in all 36 countries we examined, but Piper grows in only 9 countries.
Pepper is the world's most frequently traded spice more than 90 million pounds per year are imported into the United States alone; Tainter and Grenis Thus, although local availability certainly influences spice use, use is not dictated solely by local availability.
How did spice use begin? We hypothesize that people may have begun cooking with spices whose flavors were initially appealing or that made them feel good due to digestive or vermicidal effects, among other things.
As a result, spice-using families may also have been less likely to suffer from foodborne illnesses or food poisoning than families that did not use spices, especially in hot climates.
Furthermore, spice-using families probably would have been able to store foods longer before they spoiled, enabling them to tolerate prolonged periods of food scarcity. Observation and imitation of the food-preparation habits of these healthier families by neighbors could have spread spice use rapidly through a society.
Families that used appropriate spices would presumably rear more healthy offspring, who would then learn spice-use traditions from their parents. It even seems possible that people who lived in areas where certain spices were traditionally used might have developed physiologically heightened abilities to taste those phytochemicals. The possible existence of such inter-group variations in taste receptor sensitivity to spices are just beginning to be explored Drewnowski and Rock Eventually, however, new foodborne bacteria or fungi would immigrate, or indigenous microorganisms would evolve resistance to local spices.
Individuals eating foods contaminated by these microbes would become ill. After humans, like many other creatures, eat something that makes them sick, they tend to avoid that taste Milgram et al. Adding a different spice to a food that caused such an illness might change its flavor enough to make it palatable again—because it tastes like a new food.
At the same time, if the spice were to kill the microorganism s that caused the illness in the first place, then the food would again be rendered safe for consumption. As a result of this sequence of events, food aversions would more often be associated with unspiced and unsafe foods, whereas food likings would be associated with spicy dishes, especially in climates where foods spoil rapidly. Over time, the number of spices per recipe would proliferate due to iteration of this process—that is, sequential changes in taste, associated with inhibiting different bacteria and fungi.
Despite the widespread availability of electrical refrigeration, antimicrobial properties of spices may still be useful. For example, there is an order-of-magnitude difference in the frequency of foodborne illnesses between modern Japan and Korea, nearby countries with similar temperate climates.
During —, food poisoning—primarily of bacterial origin—affected Lee et al. But, in addition, Korean meat-based recipes are spicier than those of Japan. Although meat-based recipes of Japan collectively used more kinds of spices 14 than those of Korea 8 , Korean recipes more frequently called for at least one spice, contained more spices per recipe Table 1 , and more frequently called for highly inhibitory spices Billing and Sherman As a result, an average Korean recipe most likely inhibits a significantly greater fraction of bacteria than an average Japanese recipe.
One possible explanation for the fact that traditional Japanese recipes do not call for more spices is that they date from times when fresh seafood was continuously available from local waters. Today, more food is imported, and it comes from farther away. Traditional Japanese recipes may simply not include enough spices antimicrobials to cope with the pathogens in the imported food supply. Of course, spice use is not the only way in which humans attempt to hold foodborne pathogens at bay.
Meat products have traditionally been preserved by thoroughly cooking, smoking, drying, and salting them. Indeed, salt, which is available the world over, has been used for preservation for centuries Multhauf We hypothesize that all these practices have been adopted for essentially the same reason: to minimize the impact of microorganisms that colonize our food. Use of spices takes advantage of plant defensive compounds. Not surprisingly, in view of their evolved functions, these phytochemicals have antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiviral properties.
The use of spices essentially borrows plants' recipes for survival and puts them to similar use in cooking. However, there is a limit to how much of any one spice can be added before beneficial phytochemicals become phytotoxins. Thus, cookbooks from different eras are more than just curiosities. Essentially, they represent written records of our coevolutionary races against foodborne diseases.
By cleansing foods of pathogens before consumption, spice users contribute to the health, longevity, and fitness of themselves, their families, and their guests. We thank John Alcock, Thomas A. Gavin, Thomas Neuhaus, H. Dugatkin, Thomas Eisner, Paul W. Sherman, and an anonymous reviewer for suggestions on the manuscript; the librarians at Cornell University's Mann and Nestle Libraries for assistance with references; and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the National Science Foundation, and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University for financial support.
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