CONCLUSIÓN Y DISCUSIÓN

Secondary effects of spices are becoming more important as the public’s desire for natural or organic foods and natural ways of healing increases. Spices have been used traditionally to stimulate appetite, enhance digestion, relieve stress, and increase

TABLE 7

Coloring Components of Selected Spices

Spices Coloring Component Type of Color

Saffron Crocin Yellowish orange

Crocetin Dark red

Beta-Carotene Reddish orange

Paprika Carotenoids:

Capsanthin Dark red

Violaxanthin Orange Cryptoxanthin Red

Capsorbin Purplish red

Beta-Carotene Reddish orange

Lutein Dark red

Zeaxanthin Yellow

Chile pepper Beta-Carotene Reddish orange

Cryptoxanthin Red

Capsanthin Dark red

Capsorbin Purplish red

Turmeric Curcumin Orange yellow

Parsley Chlorophyll Green

Lutein Dark red

Neoxanthin Orange yellow

Violaxanthin Orange

Annatto Bixin Golden yellow

Norbixin Orange yellow

Safflower Carthamin Orange red

Saflor yellow Yellow

Forms, Functions, and Applications of Spices 39

energy. Spices can also aid nutrition when they are used in lieu of salt, fat, or sugar to enhance taste in processed foods.

Spices may be used in food products as preservatives, which allows for a more “natural” or friendly label on processed foods.

Spices as Preservatives

Spices have long been known for their preservative qualities, as antimicrobials, and as antioxidants. They have been used by many ancient cultures—Egyptians, Romans, Indians, Greeks, Chinese, and Native Americans—to fumigate cities, embalm the royalty, preserve food, and prevent diseases and infections.

Spices as Antimicrobials

As early as 1500 BC, Egyptians used spices to preserve foods. In Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, before the days of refrigeration, spices were used to preserve meats, fish, bread, and vegetables. Spices were used alone or in combination with smoking, salting, and pickling to inhibit food spoilage. The Romans preserved fish sauce with dill, mint, and savory, and meats and sausages with cumin and coriander. The Greeks used garlic to prevent food spoilage, and in India, ginger, garlic, clove, and turmeric were used to preserve meats and fish. In ancient Egypt, cinnamon, cumin, and thyme were used in mummification. Spices are still used to preserve food in the villages of India, Africa, Indonesia, and Thailand.

Spices have also been used for bactericidal and health reasons. During the Middle Ages, spices such as cinnamon, garlic, and oregano were used to treat cholera and other infectious diseases. In the late nineteenth century, clove, mustard, and cinna- mon were shown to have antimicrobial activity. In the twentieth century, new research on spices, including ginger, garlic, fenugreek, coriander, turmeric, and clove, as potential natural antimicrobials, continued. Today this research continues. Aldehydes, sulfur, terpenes and their derivatives, phenols, and alcohols, exhibit strong antimicrobial activity. Spices have strong, moderate, or slight inhibitory activity against specific bacteria (Table 8). Cornell University studies have reported that garlic, oregano, onion, and allspice kill all bacteria; thyme, cinnamon, tarragon, and cumin kill up to 80% of bacteria; chilies up to 75% of bacteria; and black and white peppers, ginger, anise, and celery seed up to 25%. Kansas State University studies have reported that clove, cinnamon, oregano, and sage suppress growth of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in uncooked meats, which causes gastrointestinal disease. Other recent studies have shown that dodecenal in coriander leaf and seed kills Salmonella in meats.

A combination of spices can be more effective as preservatives than one spice. Microorganisms differ in their susceptibility to specific spices. Gram-positive bac- teria are more sensitive to spices than gram-negative bacteria. Bacillus(B) subtilis

and Staphylococcus(S) aureus are more susceptible than Eschrichia (E) coli bacteria. Certain spices can act as broad-spectrum antimicrobials, such as rosemary and sage, while others are very specific in their functions, such as allspice and coriander.

40 Handbook of Spices, Seasonings, and Flavorings, Second Edition

The essential oils of some spices have an inhibitory effect on bacteria and fungi in meats, sausages, pickles, breads, and juices. Eugenol in clove; cinnamaldehyde in cinnamon; allyl isothiocyanates in mustard; thymol in thyme, carvacrol in oregano; linalool in coriander, and allicin in garlic, are some of the components used as antimicrobials.

The more pungent spice nonvolatile oils have also been shown to have strong antimicrobial properties, such as gingerol in ginger, piperine in black pepper, cap- saicin in red peppers, and diallyl sulfide in garlic.

Spices must be used at high levels to be effective antimicrobials, but this will cause flavor issues in food products. The level of spices typically added to Western style foods is generally not enough to inhibit microorganisms completely but may inhibit spoilage to some extent. Spice extractives at the levels used are effective against certain bacteria. Thyme (thymol), anise (anetol), and cinnamon (eugenol) essential oils inhibit mold growth and aflatoxin production.

Spices as Antioxidants

Spices can be used in foods to help fight the toxins created by our modern world. Heat, radiation, UV light, tobacco smoke, and alcohol initiate the formation and growth of the free radicals in the human body. Free radicals damage the human cells and limit their ability to fight off cancer, aging, and memory loss. Many spices have components that act as antioxidants and that protect cells from free radicals (Table 9).

Some spices have more antioxidant properties than others depending on the food they are in. Combining spices with other spices or antioxidants such as tocopherols and ascorbic acid produces synergistic effects. The naturally occurring phenolic compounds (phenolic diterpenes, diphenolic diterpenes) in spices are

TABLE 8

Spices as Antimicrobials

Spice Effective Component Microorganism1

Mustard Allyl isothiocyanate Escherichia(E) coli, Pseudomonas,

Staphylococcus(S) aureus

Garlic Allicin Salmonella typhii, Shigella dysenteriae, molds,

yeasts

Chile pepper Capsaicin Molds, bacteria

Clove Eugenol E. coli 0157:H7, S. aureus, aspergillus, yeast,

acinetobacter

Thyme Thymol, isoborneol, carvacrol Vibrio parahemolyticus, S. aureus, Aspergillus

Ginger Gingerone, gingerol E. coli, Bacillus(B) subtilis

Sage Borneol S. aureus, B. cereus

Rosemary Borneol, thymol S. aureus, B. cereus

Coriander Dodecenal Salmonella

1_{Kenji and Mitsuo, 1998.}

Forms, Functions, and Applications of Spices 41

effective against oxidative rancidity of fats and color deterioration of the carotenoid pigments.

Spices can prevent rancidity and extend shelf life by slowing the oxidation of fats and enzymes. Fats are broken down into peroxides (free radicals) with exposure to air or oxygen and finally into aldehydes and alcohols that give a rancid taste. Spices can halt the oxidative process by blocking or “scavenging” the free radicals. Today, with consumer demand for “natural” products, spices can be used com- mercially as natural antioxidants in foods. Sage, rosemary, oregano, thyme, cilantro, and marjoram are found to have stronger antioxidant properties than other spices. Rosemary and sage are currently used as natural antioxidants in foods, while other spices such as cilantro are being explored.

Rosemary and sage antioxidants are available as oil-solubles, water-dispers- ibles, or dry-solubles, and can be used in seasoning blends, salad dressing mixes, lard, sausage, or instant potatoes. They are used as sprays, dips, or surface coatings in comminuted poultry, seafood, or meats before they are frozen to inhibit “warmed over” flavors that develop after cooking and reheating. For snack foods, they are added in the frying oil or atomized on the surface of snacks or put into the dough. They are also added to glazes and injection marinades for meats, and are extremely heat stable as they withstand extrusion, spray-drying, or baking temperatures.

Rosemary and sage are the most effective of all spices in retaining the red color of processed meats by inhibiting the flavor and color degradation of fats and oils in them. The flavonoids and diterpenes and triterpenes of rosemary and sage are responsible for their antioxidant properties. They exhibit antioxidant properties supe- rior to BHA or BHT. Other effective spices include thyme, turmeric, oregano, ginger, clove, majoram, red pepper, mace, sesame, and nutmeg.

Rosmanol, caffeic acid, myristphenone, curcurmin, eugenol, thymol, and sesa- minol in rosemary, clove, thyme, oregano, ginger, turmeric, nutmeg, sage, and sesame seed are found to be strong antioxidants with meat, lard, and soybean oil.

TABLE 9

Spices as Antioxidants

Spice Chemical Component

Rosemary Carnosol, carnosoic acid, rosmanol

Sage Rosmanol, epirosmanol

Turmeric Curcumin, 4-hydroxycinnmoyl methane

Clove Eugenol

Oregano Phenolic glucoside, caffeic acid, rosmarinic acid, protocatechuic acid

Mace and nutmeg Myristphenone

Sesame seed Sesaminol, δ-tocopherol, sesamol

Ginger Shogoal, gingerol

42 Handbook of Spices, Seasonings, and Flavorings, Second Edition