Caper

Medicinal Herb : Caper
Plant Description

Caper is highly variable in nature in its natural habitat.

This shrubby plant has many branch with alternate leaves, thick and shiny round in shape The flowers are sweetly fragrant, showy with four sepals and four white-pinkish petals.

Capers are harvested regularly from May to July.

It prefers full sunlight and warm climate and much treated like cactus, requires frequent watering in summer and very little in winter.

Parts Used

Flower bud and root bark.
Culinary uses

* Capers can be used as sauces and salads in meat and other dishes.
* It gives a pepper taste when garnish on salad and other dish.
* It is a common ingredient in Mediterranean cuisines and the mature fruit of this plant is salted, prepared and marketed as capper berries.
* Capers are also a special ingredient in Italian cuisines It is added to pizza, pasta salads, chicken dishes and pasta sauces

Medicinal uses

* The root bark of caper has been considered and used as astringent, expectorant, diuretic and stimulating tonic.
* It is also considered healthy in gastro-intestinal infections, diarrhea, gout and rheumatism.
* The flower buds of caper are affective in cough and for eye infection.
* Its roots and bud makes a soothing herbal tea.
Medicinal Herbs

Capsicum

Medicinal Herb : Capsicum
Plant Description

Cayenne is a bush like dark-green annual plant, obtaining a height between 10 to 20 inches. The stems are furrowed, branching, and angular.

The simple leaves are on medium to long petioles and are usually wrinkled, entire, and ovate to oval. The pendulous flowers are white to violet, solitary, arising from the axillary nodes.

The fruits are long, cylindrical, and mostly ovoid, and when ripe are either scarlet or yellow, with a smooth shiny surface. The many seeds are yellow, smooth and round, with a spiny protuberance on the edge.

The plants grow at altitudes from sea level to 1,800 m above MSL in the tropics. Their pungency is influenced by several factors, such as high night temperatures and drought or over-watering.

Parts Used

The parts used are berry fruits. Removal of seeds and veins results in a less pungent and more brightly coloured product.
Main Constituents

The pungent constituents found in Cayenne are the capsaicinoids, present only in the fruit of the plant in small amounts, as low as 0.001 to 0.005% in "mild" and 0.1% in "hot" cultivars. Capsaicin is a phenolic compound, the vanillyl amide of isodecenoic acid

Apart from capsaicin, the taste of paprika is mostly due to essential oil; paprika scent is mostly do to a range of alkylmethoxypyrazines. Paprika also contains sizable amounts (0.1%) of vitamin C. Paprikas derive their colour in the ripe state mainly from carotenoid pigments, which range from bright red (capsanthrine, capsorubin and more) to yellow.

Capsicum or Cayenne (Capsicum Frutescens) is rich in vitamins A, C, iron and calcium. It contains vitamin G, magnesium, phosphorus, and sulphur; it also has some B-complex, and is rich in potassium.

Aroma and flavour

The pungency for the red peppers and the colour value for the paprikas are the most important parameters. The hot flavour of chilies is caused by the substance capsicin which is concentrated mainly in the placenta (i.e. the connective tissue between the fruit and the seeds) and the seeds.

Hot peppers, used as relishes, pickled or ground into a fine powder for use as spices, derive their pungency from the compound capsaicin (8-methyl-N-vanillyl-6-enamide), a substance characterized by acrid and burning taste, that is located in the internal partitions of the fruit. The capsaicin stimulates gastric secretions and, if used in excess, causes inflammation. It is a tasteless, odorless white crystalline substance. Its level varies widely in capsicum peppers, from less than 0.05% in the mildly pungent types to as high as 1.3% in the hottest chilies. Most of the capsaicin in a pepper is found in the interior ribs that divide the chambers of the fruit, and to which the seeds are attached.
Medicinal Herbs

Chilies have a chemical effect on our bodies as they stimulate the appetite and cool the body. The chili flavour revolutionized the cooking of tropical countries. Red pepper is used in a large variety of products, often in the meat and pickling industry in the form of crushed red pepper or ground red pepper. It is used either in the ground form or as oleoresin in any product that has some heat or pungency. A fine powder made from especially mild varieties of pepper, C.annum, is known as paprika. Paprika is used more extensively whenever a red to orange colour is desired such as in processed meats, snack, foods, sauces, gravies, salad dressings etc.
Medicinal Uses

* Cayenne is stomachic, carminative, stimulant, antispasmodic, analgesic, alterative, astringent, hemostatic, and antiseptic in nature.
* Cayenne is widely considered to be the most potent and safest stimulant known.
* Cayenne has a strong effect upon the circulation, initially acting upon the heart and the large arteries, followed by a stimulant activity upon the arterioles and then the capillaries.
* It exhibits a protective effect on the respiratory system.
* The capsaicin has substantial antigenotoxic and anticarcinogenic effects, and is an important dietary phytochemical with potential chemopreventive activity (Surh et al 1998).
* The powder is used in any catarrhal affliction as in colds, cough, asthma and urinary catarrh.
* Capsaicin is used primarily as a topical cream for pain caused by conditions such as arthritis and general muscle soreness.
* In cases of dyspepsia, flatulence and constipation, Cayenne promotes the digestive secretions and stimulates peristalsis.
* Cayenne is also indicated in tired, painful muscles, joint stiffness, and coldness in the extremities.
* Cayenne is applied topically as a powder on wounds to arrest bleeding, working rapidly to form a clot and seal off the wound.
* Cayenne is of great use in the treatment of indolent ulcers, abscesses, and sores.
* Cayenne is also an important among remedy to stop the process of mortification and gangrene, arresting decomposition and decay through its antiseptic properties.
* It is also helpful in menstrual cramps.

Bistort

Medicinal Herb : Bistort
Plant Description

A number of tuberous roots are produced from the S- shaped root stock from the upper side where there are large oval leaves with heart shaped bases of bluish green color on the upper side and ash grey tinged purple, underneath both leaf stalks and blades which is about 6 inches long.

The flower stalk is 12 to 18 inches high and is very erect, slender, unbranched and bears leaves smaller than the root leaves. The flowers are produced in May and June and again in September and October.

The fruit is three seeded; the ripe fruit is small brown and shinning.

Parts Used

Root stock and rhizome

Constituents

Bistort is said to contain tannin, and lot of starch. It also contains some gallic acid and gum.
Culinary uses

* American bistort (polygonum bistortoides) is an important source of food used by American Indians living in the mountain west. Its roots are edible either raw or fire roasted. Its flavor is similar to chestnuts.
* Seeds of bistort herb are dried and used in ground flour to make bread. They are also roasted and eaten as cracked grain.

Medicinal uses

This herb is used in various bodily ailments.

* Its powder is used to apply on cuts and wounds to stop bleeding.
* Effective in jaundice.
* Expel the venom of the plague.
* Helpful in measles and smallpox, and in other infections.
Bistort root is one of the strongest astringent medicines in whole of the vegetable kingdom and highly styptic. It is an old remedy to treat internal and external bleeding including.

* Excessive menstrual flow.
* Hemorrhaging from the lungs and stomach.

Its high astringent helps to treat diarrhea, hemorrhoids, bedwetting, spongy gums and vomiting.
Its can be used internally in diarrhea, dysentery, peptic ulcers and irritable bowl syndrome.
Externally it can be used to treat wounds, fissures and burns.
Medicinal Herbs

Africa Pepper

Medicinal herbs : Africa Pepper

Family Name: Solanaceae
Botanical Name(s): Capsicum frutescens L.
Popular Name(s): African red pepper, American pepper, Chili pepper, Chilies, Garden pepper, Red pepper

Parts Used: Fruits
Habitat: Africa pepper is found in Africa, Asia and South America. It is available in other parts of the world also.
Description: Africa pepper grows to a height of 3 feet or more. The plant possesses a stem which is woody at the lower areas but is branched at the upper parts. The leaves are ovate and petioled. The flowers are white to yellow in colour. The plant bears fruits which are in the form of pods having many seeds. The ripen fruit is red or yellow in colour.

Uses: Africa pepper has antiseptic, antibacterial and carminative properties. It has beneficial antioxidant and cardiovascular effects and it benefits gastrointestinal functions. It is used in bursitis, diabetic neuropathy, osteoarthritis, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and in a number of other diseases.
Medicinal herbs
medicinal-herbs: aconite.

Medicinal Herbs: Aconite

Medicinal herbs: Aconite
Family Name: N.O. Ranunculaciae
Botanical Name(s): Aconitum napellus (LINN.)
Popular Name(s): Monkshood, Blue Rocket, Friar's Cap, Auld Wife's Huid

Parts Used: The complete herb
Habitat: Aconite is native to western and central Europe.
Description: Aconite is an herbaceous perennial plant with fleshy root which grows to a height of 1 m. Its leaves are round, 5-10 cm in diameter and are palmately divided into five to seven lobed
segments. The flowers are purple to bluish-purple in colour and are 1-2 cm in length. Aconite is extremely poisonous.

Uses: Aconite has anodyne, diuretic and diaphoretic properties. Its tincture and liniment are used in general purposes. Its preparations are used for outward application to the skin in neuralgia, lumbago and rheumatism. It is extremely poisonous.
Medicinal herbs..

Medicinal herbs : Big Labrador Tea

Medicinal Herb : Big Labrador Tea
Plant Description

This plant is prostrate form and erect, and generally circular in outline. Its leaves are 1-3 m long and edges are curled down followed by brown hair underside.

Roots of this herb are organic in layer and rhizome could reach with a depth of 6-20 meters.

White tiny flowers clusters are found on slender stalk at the end of the branch. It flowers in late may or early june.

This plant produces a dry capsule like fruit which contains lot of seeds. The fruit is collected late august, when ripen.
Parts Used

Leaves are used. .
Culinary uses

* The strong aromatic leaves of this plant can be used to make delectable herbal tea.
* The leaves are also a good source of vitamin C.

Medicinal uses

* The leaves of this herb are used as s folk medicine to relieve skin disorders.
* Taken internally, the tea was used to stimulate nerves and stomach.
* Syrup made from the leaves of this plant can useful to treat cold, cough and hoarseness.
Medicinal Herbs
medicinal-herbs: basil.

Basil

Medicinal Herb : Basil
Plant Description of Medicinal Herbs

It is a tender low-growing herb. It grows to between 20 - 60 cm tall, with opposite, light green, silky leaves one and a half to five centimetres long and one to three centimetres broad.

It is a hairy, labiate plant with the stem obtusely quadrangular.

The flowers are labiate which are white in colour, are present in whorls in the axils of the leaves, the calyx with the upper lobe rounded and spreading.

The leaves, grayish-green beneath and dotted with dark oil cells, are opposite, 1 inch long and 1/3 inch broad, stalked and peculiarly smooth, soft and cool to the touch, and if slightly bruised, it exhales a delightful scent of cloves.

There are several varieties, differing in the size, shape, odour and colour of the leaves. The Common Basil has very dark green leaves, the curled-leaved has short spikes of flowers, the narrow-leaved smells like Fennel, another has a scent of citron and another a tarragon scent, one species has leaves of three colours, and another 'studded' leaves.

Parts Used

The whole herb, both fresh and dried.
Constituents

Sweet basil contains a volatile oil (about 1%), which consists principally of linalool and methyl chavicol, along with small quantities of methyl cinnamate, cineole, and other terpenes. Relatively large quantities and bisabolene, camphor, cryophyllene, geraniol, and ocimene in smaller quantities influencing taste and action in the body.
Culinary Uses

* The green aromatic leaves are used fresh and dried as flavorings or spices in sauces, stews, salad dressings, vegetables, poultry, vinegar, confectionery products, and the liqueur chartreuse.
* Basil is most commonly associated with Italian and Thai cuisine.
* Infusions of the leaves can flavor oil or vinegar, and leaves can be steeped for teas.
* The flowers and leaves are best used fresh and added only during the last few minutes of cooking.
* Basil works well in combination with tomatoes. Finely chopped basil stirred into mayonnaise makes a good sauce for fish

Medicinal Uses

* It is used as sedative.
* Basil has been used as a medicinal plant in treatment of headaches, coughs, diarrhea, constipation, warts, worms, and kidney malfunctions.
* It has the ability to draw out poison from insect bites
* It is also thought to be an antispasmodic, stomachache, carminative, stimulant and insect repellent.
* The oils of basil, especially the camphor-containing oil, have antibacterial properties.
* It helps in promoting production of breast milk in nursing mothers.

Other Uses

* Basil in the bath is refreshing.
* Leaves and flowers can be dried for potpourri.
* Burn sprigs of basil on the barbecue to deter mosquitoes.
* A bunch of basil hung over the kitchen window or a pot of basil in the windowsill will deter flies.
Medicinal Herbs:akebia