Coriander Seeds

English Name: Coriander Seeds
Common Indian Name (Hindi): Dhania Seeds

• Coriander is both an annual and a perennial herb and is rich in various food elements. Dried coriander seeds are used in food preparation as spices. They grow abundantly in black soil and arid regions.
• The ripe dried coriander seeds have an aromatic smell and well blending spice taste. Unripe seeds are said to have an offensive smell. Coriander is available both whole and ground.
• The commonest use of coriander seed is in curry powders, where it is the bulkiest constituent. It is an ingredient of garam masala, pickling spices and pudding spices and is used in cakes, breads and other baked foods.
• Coriander is a characteristic of Arab cookery, being common with lamb and meat stuffing. Taklia, a popular Arab spice mixture, is coriander and garlic crushed and fried.
• Coriander seeds reduce fever and promote a feeling of coolness.
• Coriander juice is highly beneficial in beneficial in deficiencies of vitamin A, B, B2, C and iron.
• Seeds are known to possess antibacterial properties and have been used in traditional medicine to relieve anxiety and insomnia.
• Coriander seeds (Dhania) powder also helps to clear the body of lead, mercury and aluminum.
• Powder is used as a flavoring agent in a number of pharmaceutical preparations, especially the digestive medicines.
• Coriander seeds are also used in traditional Indian medicine as a diuretic by boiling equal amounts of coriander seeds and cumin seeds, then cooling and consuming the resulting liquid.
• Coriander seed oil is an aromatic stimulant, a carminative (remedial in flatulence), an appetizer and a digestant, stimulating the stomach and intestines. It is generally beneficial to the nervous system. Its main use is in masking foul medicines, especially purgatives, where it has anti-griping qualities. Coriander cakes were once taken against ‘St. Anthony’s fire’, or ‘Rose’ a severe streptococcal skin infection called ‘erysipelas”, which caused many deaths before the advent of antibiotics.
• In Asia the seeds are in colic, piles and conjunctivitis; the essential oil in colic, rheumatism and neuralgia; the seeds as a paste for mouth ulceration and a poultice for other ulcers.
• Coriander contains an antioxidant that helps prevent animal fats from turning rancid. It also contains substances that kill meat-spoiling bacteria and fungi