Coriander( cilantro) useful properties
Synonyms: coriander, field cyst, bug.
Coriander( Coriandrum sativu) - is an annual herbaceous plant. His homeland is the eastern Mediterranean. It has long been cultivated in many countries. Probably, coriander is the oldest known spice in the history of mankind. It is mentioned in the Old Testament and in the ancient Sanskrit texts. It was used by its ancient Greeks and Romans, from whom it spread throughout Europe. Coriander was valued not only as a spice and medicinal plant, but also as an additive to wine. His seeds were found in ancient Egyptian tombs. The most widespread coriander is grown in Transcaucasia under the name "coriander".In food, young coriander leaves are used most often before the plant begins to form fibrous stems( stems).
Description .It is a herbaceous plant of the celery family( Apiaceae).Stem erect, roundish, branched from above, with height up to 50-100 cm. Lower leaves petiolate, pinnate with large pinnatiform lobes;the middle leaves are twice pinnate, and the upper leaves are narrow, narrow-lined. Flowers are white or pink, small. Calyx is five-toothed. Corolla superimposed, falling down. Blooms from June to August. Fruit is a globose double-seeded. The plant has an unpleasant bug-like odor;hence the name "bug".Weight of 1000 seeds is 3-5 g.
Medicinal raw material : fruits.
Biological features. Coriander is not very demanding for heat, and therefore cultivated even in the central regions of the CIS.True, the northern cold winds this plant does not tolerate. Coriander is a very moisture-loving culture. With a lack of moisture in the soil, it yields low yields. Seeds of it slowly rise and slowly germinate.
According to the content of linalool in coriander oil, various morphophobic forms of this culture are divided into three groups: West European, giving 66-80% of linalool, Transcaucasian, giving 84-88%, and Asia Minor, yielding up to 92%.In the Voronezh region, where large areas are concentrated, occupied with coriander, the seeds are produced by the seeds of the Asia Minor group. Small-fruited coriander forms contain a greater percentage of essential oil than large-fruited ones.
Distribution. It grows wild in southern Europe on the Mediterranean coast. In the CIS it is found in the wild in the Central Asian countries, in the Transcaucasus and the Crimea.
In culture, coriander is cultivated in Germany, Morocco, India and on. Cyprus. In the CIS, it is cultivated in the Voronezh and Kursk regions, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and Western Siberia. Chemical composition of .Seeds of coriander contain 0.6-1.0% of essential oil, which includes 70% of linalool, up to 20% of fatty oil, protein substances, starch, sugar, pinene, cymol, borneol, geraniol. The amount of essential oil varies depending on the variety and climatic conditions from 0.18 to 1.18%, and the content of linalool in it varies from 60 to 74%.
Application. Coriander is widely used in perfumery, soap and confectionery industry, as well as in medicine for flavoring of medicines. Of particular importance are coriander seeds, which serve as raw materials for the production of essential oil, from which linalool is obtained. The latter is the most important product in the perfume industry.
In the Transcaucasus and Uzbekistan, the leaves of this plant are used as a seasoning for food. Coriander is a good honey, giving from 1 ha to 300-500 kg of honey.
Coriander waste in the form of cake, containing up to 17% protein, 7-8% fatty oil and up to 30% nitrogen-free extractives, go to feed livestock. Sometimes cultivated, planted in the garden as a spicy plant. It also occurs as a weed near the dwelling.
Agricultural machinery for growing .Site selection. The most favorable for coriander are fertile chernozems and light sandy loamy soils with sufficient moisture. The best predecessors are tilled and winter crops that go along fertilized pairs.
Soil treatment .If the precursors of coriander were winter crops, soon after harvesting, stubble is harvested, and in three weeks the main plowing is required to a depth of 22-27 cm. In the early spring, the field is harrowed, and then cultivated before sowing with simultaneous harrowing.
Application of fertilizers. Under the autumn plowing, 15-20 t / ha of manure and 40-45 kg / ha of active substance of phosphate-potassium fertilizers should be applied. During the summer, two additional fertilizing are done: the first before the beginning of branching with local organic fertilizers, and in the absence of the latter - with mineral nitrogen-phosphorus fertilizers at the rate of 30-40 kg / ha of the active substance;the second top dressing is produced by phosphorus-potassium fertilizers at the beginning of flowering at 20-30 kg / ha of the active substance.
Reproduction. Coriander is propagated by sowing seeds in the soil at the rate of 12-18 kg / ha with a wide-row method with 45 cm spacing and 20-25 kg / ha with continuous ordinary seeding. The depth of seeding is 4-5 cm. For the speedy production of shoots, it is necessary to air-heat the seeds in the sun for three days. Sow should be simultaneously with early spring crops.
Caring for plantations. Since coriander seedlings do not appear long before they occur, it is necessary to fight the crust and weeds. To this end, coriander seeds are added for orientation, for example a few buckwheat seeds, which quickly grow. Care for plantations is the timely loosening of rows and weeding in rows. Harvesting. Coriander should be cleaned with simple machines when the fruit is brewed 30-40% and the combine harvester when the fruits are bitten by 60-70%.Coriander, cleaned with simple harvesters, is tied into sheaves that are folded into 50-60 pieces of cake for drying. Cleaning is done by machines when the seeds ripen by 20-25%.This method reduces labor costs by 30%, reduces seed losses and their fragmentation. Thrush is produced by bread threshing on a quiet course, so that the fruits of coriander are not crushed. After threshing, the seeds are cleaned on a fan and dried to 13% moisture.
The coriander harvest is an average of 6-8 centners per hectare, and in the best farms collect 15-20 centners / ha or more.
Useful and curative properties of
For the medicinal purposes, seeds( fruits) are used. The color of the fruit is gray or grayish-brown. The taste is spicy, the odor is peculiar, pleasant.
Fruits contain up to 1.2% essential oil, which includes linodal and terpen.
Essential oil of coriander seed has choleretic, analgesic, antiseptic, antihemorrhoic, expectorant and appetizing properties. It increases the granulation and secretion of the glands of the digestive tract.
Preparations in the form of powder, infusion and tincture of coriander are used as digestive, choleretic for liver and gallbladder diseases, with flatulence, as an expectorant for lung diseases, as an antihemorrhoid and externally for the treatment of wounds. Essential oil, obtained by distilling fruits with water vapor, is used as a substitute for lavender oil in some pharmaceutical preparations. In folk medicine, the fruits of coriander are used in diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, as an exciting and regulating activity. In the past, infusions and tinctures of fruits were used to treat long-standing disorders of the stomach, hemorrhoids, colds, wounds, and sugared fruits - to destroy bad breath.
Coriander is used in perfumery, confectionery, bakery, distillery and other industries. Young leaves of coriander, mostly called coriander, are widely used as an acute seasoning for various dishes. Green contains a number of vitamins( C, P, PP, B1, B2).
Growing in room conditions
Varieties of coriander are few, the most common: Alekseevsky 247, October 713, Ray, Kish-niche. They showed themselves well when growing in indoor conditions.
♦ Accommodation - on windows with direct sunlight. He is not afraid of partial shade. The plant is cold-resistant. In the warm season, boxes and pots of coriander should be placed on balconies, verandas, loggias. The optimal temperature for plant growth is +16 - + 17 ° C, but they develop well at higher temperatures. Shoots appear at +7 - + 10 ° C.
♦ Planting and care. Sowing of coriander is carried out, like all green ones, in a loose vegetable mix or in a ready floral substrate with a high content of humus, "Rose."Features of planting and care of crops are similar to dill and are described in the corresponding section.
♦ Reproduction - by seeds, 1.5 - 2 g of seeds are required per small box of 0.5 m2.The depth of sowing is 1.5 - 2.5 cm.
In the room, green coriander with stepped sowing can be enjoyed throughout the year. In its raw form, coriander leaves are used as a seasoning for meat and fish dishes. They are used in the preparation of hot sauces, they are added to salads. Seeds of coriander are widely used in the bakery process.
The healing properties of coriander have been known since ancient times. Ibn Sina( Avicenna) wrote that coriander "helps with dizziness, hives and a number of other infirmities."Modern medicine confirms that essential oil contained in fruits, causes analgesic and antiseptic effect. In folk medicine, coriander is used as an anticonvulsant and sedative. The effect of coriander on the activity of the digestive glands is known. Its use in large doses acts as a stimulant.
For obtaining greenery, use essential oil varieties of coriander Beam, Smena, Amber and local sample populations. Coriander samples from Armenia are especially appreciated, which are characterized by good leafiness and resistance to stalking.
Cultivation: coriander is a cold-resistant crop. Young plants can withstand frosts up to -5-8 ° С.Seeds begin to germinate at b ° C.The most favorable temperature for the growth and development of plants in the range of 22-25 ° C.The highest yields of greens yield on sandy loamy and loamy non-acid soils, which are sufficiently filled with organic fertilizers. Place coriander after potatoes, legumes and other vegetable crops. The soil is prepared from autumn - dig at a depth of 20 cm, make 2-3 kg of manure, compost and mineral fertilizers. In spring the soil is only loosened up.
Seeds are sown early in the spring, when the soil is still wet, which contributes to obtaining amicable shoots. With a lack of moisture in the soil, the shoots can be sparse, the plants form a small rosette and quickly move to stalking. The sowing of a private with rows between rows is 25-30 cm( in large areas 60-70 cm).Depth of seeding - 1-2 cm
Care of crops is the loosening of row spacing, weeding and 2-3 irrigation during the dry period. From shoots to green takes 30-50 days, after which the plants begin to form a stem. By the time of harvest, the plants reach a height of 10-15 cm. To obtain seeds, coriander is sown in the spring in the first half of May or during the winter.
Collection: in order to have fresh coriander greens throughout the summer and autumn, it is necessary to sow it portionwise after 12-18 days. The shortest period before harvesting from the June sowing period.
Medicinal properties: stimulates the work of the gastrointestinal tract, activates the work of the stomach, enhances the activity of the digestive glands and thereby normalizes digestion. Essential oils have wound healing and analgesic effect. Essential oil of coriander is used in pharmaceuticals for the preparation of galenic preparations, which are used to improve digestion and against flatulence.
In cooking. Coriander enjoys well-deserved fame in many cuisines around the world. The Chinese say that this is their local plant, and even call it Chinese parsley;in Mexico, where it also grows, it is often put in various dishes;from Moroccan soup and bears coriander. But especially it is popular in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Southern Spain. Coriander seeds are the main constituent of curry powder. In addition, with their help stop the rotting of meat, and without the leaves of coriander it is difficult to imagine many kinds of curry. Coriander also gives an unmatched taste and smell( if you know the measure) of mushroom dishes, meatballs, stew lamb, as well as lamb or pork kebab.
When baking bread in flour add ground grain, so that the product acquires an inimitable taste and smell, and the body is easier to absorb starch. Coriander soup. This dish perfectly helps with stress, as it has carminative, warming and diuretic properties. It is recommended to alleviate symptoms of premenstrual tension and menopause, as well as fluid retention and cellulite.
Soup preparation will require:
sea saltBoil water with salt and olive oil. Add 2 sprigs of coriander with leaves, as well as potatoes, onions, bay leaf, pour lemon juice. Boil over low heat for 1 5-20 minutes, until the potatoes soften.
At the last minute, add ground coriander seeds, pour a little goat's milk or put sour cream( if desired).Finely crumble the leaves of coriander and sprinkle soup with them before serving.
Seeds have a pleasant spicy smell, reminiscent of anise, and first a pleasant, and later sharp spicy taste. Coriander is used in the production of liqueurs, sausages, in the perfume industry, and in England and Germany - for the production of beer. Coriander is a part of various pastilles, which are used by smokers to eliminate the unpleasant odor.
Drink from coriander
1 liter of beverage, 20 grams of coriander, 800 g of water, 120 g of sugar, 200 g of grape juice( you can have another juice)
Coriander pour boiling water and cook in a sealed container with a weak boil 20-30 minutes, infuse for 10-15 minutes and drain. Add sugar and cook for 2-3 minutes. After cooling, pour chilled grape juice
. In cooking, greens and coriander seeds are used to make salads, rice, roast pork, compote of apples and for preserving fruit, it is added to dough products, vegetable dishes, sauces, goulash and some fish. Many use coriander for making sausages and various meat products. It is added to honey cakes, marzipan and to a variety of dry biscuits. Coriander improves the taste of dishes from peas, beans and lentils. Add it to cabbage, pate from game and poultry, red beets, apple puree, carrots and stuffing for stuffed poultry.
Kinzu uses in the bakery, confectionery and canning industry, in various preparations, marinades, for the preparation of sauces and seasonings. Cilantro is a real storehouse of vitamins, especially carotene and ascorbic acid. It is used in medicine to treat scurvy, is part of cholagogue tea, improves digestion.