Indian Food Industry Mag Vol 34 No 2, Mar-Apr 2015 29 TARs Coriander – A potential medicinal herb Prerna Nath 1* , SJ Kale 1 and OP Chauhan 2 1 Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology, Abohar, Punjab 2 Defence Food Research Laboratory, Mysore *E-mail: prernanath3185@gmail.com Abstract Herbs are an important source of unique phyto-chemicals that are not common in fruits and vegetables. Coriander sativum L. is one of those plants whose fresh foliage is used as herb and dried seeds form an important spice ingredient in culinary applications. The plant is harvested for its green leaves and dried brown seeds for production of essential oil and oleoresins. Essential oil from coriander has important role in various commercial applications such as cosmetics, fragrance industry and pharmaceuticals. Since ages the plant is being used as a traditional treatment of several ailments including gastric disorders, urinary infections, diabetes and cancers due to its exceptional phyto-nutrients. Plethora of reports are available on medicinal properties of coriander as anti-diabetic, anti- oxidant, anti-anxiety, hypnotic, sedative, anti- hyperlipidemic, diuretic, hypotensive, anti-microbial, anti- mutagenic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective and anti- convulsant. Key words: Coriander, phyto-chemicals, herb, spice, medicinal, essential oil, ayurvedic. Introduction Herbs are used since ages for their incence, redolence, food or even in remedy. Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) is documented in ayurvedic literature as a medicinal herb (The Ayurvedic Pharmacopeia of India., 2010) (Table 1). Coriander commonly renowned as cilantro, Chinese parsley or dhania belongs to the family “Umbelliferae”. The plant is a native of Mediterranean region and is widely cultivated all over the world for its fresh foliage and dry seeds. The fresh leaves are used as herb whereas dry seeds form an important ingredient as spice. It is extensively grown in Bangladesh, Russia, Italy, Netherlands, Central and Eastern Europe, China and India. India is considered as a major producer, consumer and exporter of coriander with an annual production of 5 lakh tonnes (Spice board of India, 2012-13). Coriander is also grown for essential oil or oleoresin preparations. Its oil content ranges from 0.03-2.6 % (Nadeem et al., 2013). Whole coriander plant is edible in nature but commonly its leaves and seeds serve as major component in many culinary preparations ranging from sauces, chutneys, soups, pickles, curries, seasoning preparations, spice powder mixes and recipes. Besides this, the aromatic plant is widely used as a folk medicine due to its rich phyto- chemical composition and health benefits. Corresponding author: Prerna Nath, Scientist, ICAR- CIPHET, Abohar, Punjab, Ph: 7087074560. In India, coriander extracts are used in various ailments such as flatulence, gastric malfunctioning, respiratory tract disorders and urinary infections. Coriander has also been preferred for some of the medical treatments like dyspeptic complaints, loss of appetite, convulsions and insomnia (Mir Heidar 1992). Regional names of coriander Sanskrit (dhanayaka,); Hindi (dhania, dhanya); English (coriander, collender, chinese parsley); Greek (koriannon, korion); Gujarati (Dhana); Kashmiri (Dhaniwal, Dhanawal); Oddiya (Dhania); Punjabi (Dhania); Bengali (Dhane, Dhania); Marathi (Dhaue, Kothimbir); Tamil (Kottamalli, Viral dhania); Telagu (Dhaniyalu); Urdu (Kishneez) (The Ayurvedic Pharmacopeia of India, 2010). Nutritional aspects The plant is known as store house of bioactives due to its rich nutritional and bioactive composition. Green foliage and dried seeds of coriander are responsible for its nutrition. Nutritional profile of fresh leaves is entirely different from those of dried seeds. Leaves are particularly rich in vitamin A and C whereas its dried seeds constitute significant amounts of other minerals and dietary fibre (Table 2). Table 2 reveals that green coriander leaves contain negligible saturated fat and cholesterol content and appreciable amounts of thiamine, zinc and crude fibre. Leaves being good source of -carotene serve as a precursor of vitamin A. In coriander, -carotene (upto 160 g/100 g) is present with a total carotenoid content of 1010 g/ 100 g (Kandlakunta et al. 2008). The foliage can be used in formulation of specialty foods rich in vitamin A to curb vitamin A deficiency diseases. Dried seeds of coriander hold an important position in Indian cuisine as well as Indian ayurvedic medicinal history. Seeds contain zero percent cholesterol (USDA, 2013). Coriander seeds are also recognized to be one of the valuable sources for dietary potassium (1267 mg/100g) followed by other minerals such as calcium (709 mg/100 g), phosphorus (409 mg/ 100 g), magnesium (330 mg /100 g), sodium (35 mg/100 g), zinc (4.70 mg/100 g) which are important for functioning of cells in the body. Total vitamin C is also