Coriandrum sativum – Coriander, cilantro
Apiaceae (formerly Umbelliferae) – Celery family
The part used in medicine is the coriander fruit – Coriandri fructus and the coriander oil isolated from it. It is harvested when the fruits in the first row of umbels start to brown. The entire plants are cut and threshed after drying.
Coriander – appearance and origin:
An annual found in the Mediterranean, grown in Asia, North and South Americas, North Africa, Europe; in Poland often feralized. It requires sunny and sheltered spots.
There are 2 strains which are grown, differing in the length of the vegetation period, height, fruit size and oil content.
– Small fruit strain – longer vegetation period, taller stem, smaller fruit, higher oil content.
– Large fruit strain – short vegetation period, shorter stem, larger fruit, lower oil content.
The stem is erect, branched, ribbed, bare, up to 50 cm (large fruit strain) or 120 cm (small fruit strain). The plant has a bed bug-like smell. The leaves vary in shape; the lower ones are single with long petioles, lobed, with wide sepals; the upper ones are bipinnate, with linear sepals, similar to dill.The flowers are light pink or white, small, clustered into umbellules which in turn form umbels. Melliferous. The flowers are 5-petaled with 1 pistil and 5 stamens. It blooms from June to August. The fruit are spherical, ribbed cremocarps, made up of 2 connected achenes with winding ribbings. Young fruit are green and go pink before ripening, and the ripe ones are yellowish. The root is a thin taproot, weakly branched.
Coriander – effects and use:
The fruit contains oil (0.2-0.6% for large fruit strains, up to 1.5% for small fruit strains), coumarins (scopoletin, umbelliferone), protein compounds and greasy oil (20%).
Coriander is used as:
– An antispasmodic, carminative and digestive stimulant;
coriander is recommended for digestive diseases, diseases of the liver and the gallbladder. It is most effective in combination with herbs such as caraway, aniseed, dill and chamomile flowers.
– A spice to improve the taste and smell of meats, marinades, to add to not easily digestible foods (causing flatulence), and to produce vodkas and liquors.
Too frequent use of fresh and dried fruit can cause nausea, drowsiness and headaches.
Coriander oil is obtained through steam distillation of ripe, dried and comminuted coriander fruit. It contains (depending on the origin of the raw material and the plant strain): (+) linalool (60-75%), geraniol, cymol and their esters, and also borneol, thymol, limonene, alpha- and beta-pinene, camphene and cymene.
The oil has a spasmolytic effect on smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract and bile duct, and it inhibits the growth of some microbes. It can be used externally for throat gargling, mouthwashes and for bacterial infections. It also has topical anesthetic activity. Coriander has also been reported to act as a sedative, especially in vegetative neurosis.
PL