Overview On Cilantro (Coriander)
Coriander or cilantro is a remarkable plant. Incidentally, a word about naming the plant ! Coriander is the name given to both leaves and seeds in the United Kingdom. In the USA, they use the Spanish name, cilantro, but only for the leaves. Coriander does just fine for the seeds.
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L., family Apiceae) is an annual herb native to Mediterranean Europe and Western Asia, naturalized in North America, and now extensively cultivated in many temperate countries. In some countries it grows as a perennial (Wichtl and Bisset, 1994; BHP, 1996).
The fresh leaves are used as a flavouring. The dried coriander seeds, like the leaves are valued for their culinary and medicinal uses, versatility and have the capacity to surprise – its an important herb in flavouring a variety of wok, stir-fry, Asian dishes and is highly characteristic of the region’s cooking. Did you know it had other benefits too ? Its name comes from the Latin ‘Koros’ meaning ‘bed-bug’ which refers to its potent and fragrant scent that was believed to deter insects appearing!
All parts of this herb are used as traditional remedies for the treatment of different disorders in the folk medicine systems of different civilizations.
The plant is a potential source of lipids as it’s rich in a particular fatty acid petroselinic acid which is also found in parsley. It produces an essential oil (1%w/w) also rich in linalool (55% to 74% of the oil) which can be isolated from both seeds and the aerial parts. It also contains monoterpene hydrocarbons (alpha– and beta-pinene and limonene), anethole, and camphor comprises (20% of the plant). The rest of the oil is made up of oleic, petroselinic acid referenced already, and linolenic fatty acids make up 26% of the plant; approximately 20% is comprises flavonoid glycosides (quercetin, isoquercitrin, and rutin), chlorogenic and caffeic acids, tannins, and sugars while proteins comprise 11% to 17%. The remainder (approximately 1%) contains coumarins, mucilage, and starch (Lister & .
Due to the presence of a multitude of bioactives, a wide array of pharmacological activities have been ascribed to different parts of this herb, which include anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-diabetic, anxiolytic, anti-epileptic, anti-depressant, anti-mutagenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-dyslipidemic, anti-hypertensive, neuro-protective and diuretic. Interestingly, coriander also possessed lead-detoxifying potential. An excellent review expands on all these treatments (Sahib et al., 2013).
Essential Oils
One group of researchers used analysed the seed oil of coriander using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) which showed the presence of 52 components, accounting for 98.45% of the total oil (Singh et al., 2006). The major components were linalool (75.30%), geranyl acetate (8.12%) and α-pinene (4.09%). The oleoresin contained 28 components of which oleic acid (36.52%), linoleic acid (33.2%) and palmitic acid (11.05%) were the major components.
Reduction In Cancer Causing Chemicals
Heterocyclic amines (HCA) are chemicals which are formed in meat during roasting and other forms of cooking. It is on a list of toxic chemicals according to the National Cancer Institute which are linked to causing cancer.
Apparently, coriander as one of five different herbs and spices is able to suppress its formation presumably by blocking oxidation.
Antimicrobial Benefits
The antifungal activities of coriander oil and its oleoresin were evaluated against eight fungi using the inverted petriplate and food poison techniques. Using the inverted petriplate method, the essential oil was found to be highly active against Curvularia palliscens, Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium moniliforme and Aspergillus terreus. The oleoresin was also effective- more than 50% mycelial zone inhibition was obtained for the fungi Fusarium oxysporum, Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus terreus. Using the food poison technique, the essential oil showed 100% inhibition on the growth of A. terreus, A. niger, F. graminearum and F. oxysporum, whereas its oleoresin showed weaker fungitoxic activity, exhibiting 100% inhibition on the growth of F. oxysporum only. The oleoresin had a better antioxidant activity for sunflower oil than essential oil and synthetic antioxidants, BHA and BHT.
Antifungal properties
There are a number of treatments for fungal infections, such as oral candidiasis (thrush) but they often cause unpleasant side effects. For this reason, there is developing interest in novel compounds based on natural ingredients that can fight and ward off these fungal infections.
A study, published in PLOS One, tested coriander-based essential oil against Candida albicans. The authors conclude that the oil, produced from coriander leaves, does indeed have an antifungal property and recommend further studies.
The oil was also found to exert strong sprout suppressant activity (SSA) for potatoes – that’s an interesting find in aiming to control storage issues in tuber crops.
Dried coriander leaves prepared by band drying to retain as much flavour as possible are available from Tro-Kost (Sandhausen, Germany).
Skin Health
Ultraviolet (UV) radiation causes photo damage to the skin, which, in turn, leads to depletion of the dermal extracellular matrix and chronic alterations in skin structure. Skin wrinkles are associated with collagen synthesis and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) activity. A study published in the Journal of Medicinal Food in 2015 looked at how coriander leaf, or cilantro, extracts protected the skin from this type of damage caused by Ultra Violet (UV) B radiation. The researchers tested an alcoholic suspension of coriander leaf on both human skin cells in a dish, and skin cells in hairless laboratory mice. The results supported the potential of C. sativum to prevent skin photo aging.
Coriander Seed Products
Please note this article contains links to seeds and products supported by our affiliate marketing partners. Please read our affiliate disclosure.
References
BHP. British Herbal Pharmacopoeia. (1996) Exeter , U.K. : British Herbal Medicine Assoc. 12 p.
Freires, Id.A., Murata, R.M., Furletti, V.F., Sartoratto, A., Alencar, S.Md., Figueira, G.M., et al. (2014) Coriandrum sativum L. (Coriander) Essential Oil: Antifungal Activity and Mode of Action on Candida spp., and Molecular Targets Affected in Human Whole-Genome Expression. PLoS ONE9(6): e99086. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0099086
, . (1996) Encyclopedia of common natural ingredients used in food, drugs, and cosmetics. New York : John Wiley & Sons Inc. 12 p.
, . (1973) Hagers handbuch der pharmazeutischen praxis, Vol. 1. New York : Springer Verlag. 25 p.
Sahib, N. G., Anwar, F., Gilani, A.-H., Hamid, A. A., Saari, N. and Alkharfy, K. M. (2013), Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.): A Potential Source of High-Value Components for Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals- A Review. Phytother. Res., 27 pp. 1439–1456. doi: 10.1002/ptr.4897
Singh, G., Maurya, S., de Lampasona, M. P. and Catalan, C. A. N. (2006), Studies on essential oils, Part 41. Chemical composition, antifungal, antioxidant and sprout suppressant activities of coriander (Coriandrum sativum) essential oil and its oleoresin. Flavour Fragr. J., 21 pp. 472–479. doi: 10.1002/ffj.1608
Snigdha C, Monika T (2013) Coriandrum sativum: A promising functional and medicinal food. Int. J. Phytomed. Related Industr. 5 pp. 59–65.
, . (1994) Herbal drugs and phytopharmaceuticals. Stuttgart , N.J. : Medpharm Scientific Publishers. 21 p.
I was trying to find some more literature on the anti-sprouting activity for my research project at college (Washington State). Do you have any information on papers that could help me with this ? I didn’t know about cilantro. Wondered if the anti-fungal activity also had some part to play in stopping the potatoes from sprouting and does it work with other plants – tubers perhaps ?? I did see an item in a poster at the IFE 2016 about some related work but I wasn’t able to get there. Maybe you have a copy if you went. Drav.
Hi Drav,
I was just looking at some alternative uses for herbs generally when I came across the review and some of the other uses for cilantro. A mate of mine from Bristol mentioned the anti-sprouting activity but I now cannot find the reference for it. It should be on Google Scholar somewhere though. I sadly didn’t get to IFE this year but I often look out for unusual uses for all sorts of food plants. Who knows, might be some lipid or fatty acid that is stopping the sprouting – bound to me similar to agents like octopine or some other biochemical. Plants have all sorts of tricks available to give them a competitive edge. I’ll certainly have a look at what I have on the herb. Thanks for the interest !