Description
Oregano
is the common name of Origanum vulgare, a species in family Lamiaceae.
It is native to the Mediterranean region. It is widely naturalized in the
temperate Northern Hemisphere. The plant is woody and perennial. It grows to 20–80 cm
tall. The arrangement of the leaves on stem is opposite. The flowers are
purple, produced in erect spikes in summer.
Culinary use
Oregano
is a culinary herb. It is used for leaves flavor. The dried Oregano is more
intense than fresh one. Its taste is earthy, warm and slightly bitter, varies
in its intensity. Good-quality cultivars may be strong enough almost to numb
the tongue. However, the cultivars adapted to colder climates may have a lesser
flavor. Oregano is used as the staple herb of Italian cuisine and combines well
with popular spicy foods. However, marjoram is commonly used in the north of
the country and more preferable in the kitchen than
oregano. It is not commonly used in the north of Italian,
as marjoram is generally preferred. Oregano is used in cuisines of the countries
of Mediterranean Basin and countries of Latin America, particularly in
Argentine cuisine.
In Turkish, Oregano is mostly used in Turkish cuisine for flavoring all
types of meat, particularly mutton and lamb meets. It can also be used as a
condiment, together with paprika, salt, and pepper, in barbecue and kebab
restaurants. In Portugal, generous amounts of dried oregano are often added as
a topping to a tomato and cucumber salad during the summer. It can also be used
to season meat and fish dishes as well. The dried and ground leaves are added to
Greek salad to add a tasty flavor. It is also added to the lemon-olive oil
sauce that accompanies fish or meat grills and casseroles.
Medicinal uses
Oregano has been used in the countries
of Mediterranean region for centuries in to treat many ailments. These ailments
include: skins sores, aching muscles, asthma, cramping,
diarrhea, indigestion, colds, to boost overall health
More research is needed to assure of the
benefits of using oregano in fighting bacteria. However, there
is some evidences that Oregano could help: fight bacteria, relieve inflammation,
regulate blood sugar and lipids and fight cancer.
Oregano
and other herbs provide antioxidants. These antioxidants are helping in the
elimination of free radicals in the body. Free radicals are toxic components that
result from environmental stresses and natural processes.
Their building up in the body can trigger oxidative stress,
which leads to cell damage. Cell damage may lead to various diseases,
including diabetes and cancer.
Essential
oil thymol and carvacrol are the main substances of oregano are. These may have antimicrobial properties. The antimicrobial
properties of oregano, prevent various strains of Staphyloccus
aureus bacteria from developing in meat and dairy
products, suggesting that it could help control bacterial growth in foods. More research was carried out in many labs to investigate
the effects of oregano oil on various microbes,
particularly those that are resistant to antibiotics. It was reported that the oil of oregano has antibacterial activity with high attitude against eleven
such microbes. It is suggesting that substances in
oregano oil could fight pathogenic bacteria that no longer respond to antibiotics. But, the presence of antibiotics compounds
in oregano does not mean that eating of oregano plant will prevent infections of microbes.
The
thymol and rosmarinic substances that present in oregano oil have
anti-inflammatory properties. In animal studies,
oregano extract has reduced inflammation that could lead to autoimmune
arthritis, allergic asthma and rheumatoid arthritis.
Some
of the substances in oregano plant may have anticancer properties. The extract
of oregano may help prevent DNA damage in cells. The
damage which occurs is due to mitogens, radiation, oxidative stress and protein
that can cause unwanted cell division. The carvacrol
and thymol which present in oregano extracts may prevent
growing of melanoma cells and spreading of skin cancer. It was also suggested
that Origanum majorana could help slow or stop the progression
of metastatic breast cancer.
It
was found that substances in oregano may help manage type 2 diabetes.
It was also concluded that Origanum extract may help
improve insulin resistance, regulates the expression of genes
that affect fat and carbohydrate metabolism, and restores damaged liver and kidney tissues. It was noted that some people already use
oregano leaves and oil to manage high blood sugar
levels. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. Experts’ do
not know what causes it, but oxidative stress may play a role. Laboratory, it
was found that an extract of oregano improved type 1 diabetes in mice. They suggested that this could be due to oregano’s
antioxidant properties, its effect on the immune
system, and its ability to prevent cell death.
After
a series of experiments on rats with depression, researchers concluded that
oregano might relieve stress-related behavior in rats..
It was reported in the National Library of Medicine that people take oregano products by mouth for: asthma, coughs, croup, allergies, bronchitis, rheumatoid arthritis, painful menstrual cramps, urinary tract infections, disorders, headaches and, diabetes, bleeding after a tooth extraction, heart conditions and high cholesterol.
Oregano oil is apply to the skin of the people to treat athlete’s foot, acne, canker sores, dandruff, toothache, and gum disease, wounds, warts, ringworm, psoriasis, rosacea, insect bites and as an insect repellant, joint and muscle pain and varicose veins.
References
Asma Tair, Erika-Krisztina Weissa, Laurentiu Mihai Paladeab, Sofia Loupassakia, Dimitris P. Makrisc, Efstathia Ioannoud, Vassilios Roussisd and Panagiotis Kefalas, 2014, Origanum species native to the island of Crete: In vitro antioxidant characteristics and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry identification of major polyphenolic components. Natural Product Research 28:1284–1287.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8457725/pdf/ijpr-20-268.pdf
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