Spices form an important ingredient of culinary prepara-tions in the tropics. They are added to the food in minor quantities to alter the taste and flavour of the preparation.
SPICES
Spices form an important ingredient of culinary
preparations in the tropics. They are added to the food in minor quantities to
alter the taste and flavour of the preparation. Though they do not contribute
to the energy content of the diet, they help to increase the digestion of the
diet by enhancing the secretion of the digestive enzyme in the alimentary tract
and by increasing the perspiration. There are four major groups of active
constituents present in the spices, responsible for all these properties:
(i) Volatile oils (ii) Phenolics (iii) Alkaloids and (iv) Sulphur-containing compounds.
Volatile oils are sweet-smelling liquids, and they emit fragrance to the food and are also slight bitter in taste. Thus, they help to enhance the secretion of digestive enzyme in the alimentary tract. All spices belonging to the apiaceae (umbelliferous fruits and their leaves) and the lamiaceae (leafy spices) are rich in volatile oils. Since the oils are lost on cooking, these spices are mostly added as condiments.
Phenolics component contribute to the taste, colour and
flavour of a number of spices. The phenols present in spices are simple in
structure mostly containing single aromatic ring, e.g. gingerols (ginger),
phenolic amines are the pungent principles (capsaicins) in red pepper and
phenylpropenes are present in cloves (eugenol) and fennel (anethole).
Alkaloids
Alkaloids are the largest group of nitrogenous natural
organic compounds but only a few spices belonging to the genus piper contain
them. Alkaloids present in this genus are of piperidine type.
Sulphur Compounds
Spices such as mustard, onion and garlic owe their pungency
and characteristic odour to sulphur-containing compounds. These compounds are
present in the form of glucosinolate (mustard seed) and are volatile with an
offensive odour (onion, garlic and asparagus).
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