Common Name CORIANDER (CILANTRO)

Click image to enlarge Genus Species Coriandrum sativum Family Apiaceae Origin Mediterranean Countries Cultivated Widely around the world Description The seed of the well-known cilantro or Chinese parsley plant (Coriandrum sativum) is known as coriander, and it is a spice with one of the longest histories of use. The name coriander is derived from the Greek word koris, meaning bedbug, since the unripe seeds and leaves when crushed have a smell suggestive of a crushed bedbug. The plant is indigenous to Greece, but the seed is now as well known in Asiatic and South American as it is in Mediterranean cooking. Cilantro is regarded as an herb, and is used with Mexican salsas, in Greek dishes and, along with the seeds of coriander, in Indian curries and in Thai food. Coriander is used in condiments, desserts, liqueurs, perfumes and in candies. Sugar covered coriander was known as comfits; these were used ceremoniously as a predecessor of paper confetti. See a list of spices by Taste and Hotness. Useful Parts The seed is used both whole and ground. The fresh leaves are also popular garnishes in a variety of Mexican and East Asian cuisines. Medicinal Properties Coriander and cilantro have been advocated for health purposes in folk therapies, and the list of such uses is similar to those for other spices. However, no medical value has been adequately evaluated, and thus this popular herb/spice remains a cook’s ingredient, and is utilized as a manufacturer’s flavor, rather than being recognized as an herbalist’s medication. Food authorities regard coriander as one of the most versatile spices, and, perhaps not surprisingly, individual authors give very different descriptions of its flavor.

See chemicals in spices. Historical View “Coriander fruits possess stimulant and carminative properties like those of the other aromatic umbelliferous fruits; and may therefore be given in similar cases to those of caraway. They are, however, but little employed in medicine.”



Bentley, Robert and Henry Trimen. Medicinal Plants; being descriptions with original figures of the principal plants employed in medicine and an account of the characters, properties, and uses of their parts and products of medicinal value. London, Churchill, 1880. (WZ 295 B556m 1880)

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