Historical and Future Perspective of Indian Spices

Historical and Future Perspective of Indian Spices

Priyanka Singh
Copyright: © 2020 |Pages: 4
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-2524-1.ch001
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Abstract

Spices take an important place in common man's everyday life mainly because of their flavor, taste, and medicinal values. Spice usage grew with the increased use of processed products. India is the largest producer of spices in the world. Growth in Indian spices and spice product exports clearly show that Indian spices and spice products have a great demand in international markets. India is the land of spices and could exploit the fast-growing nutraceutical sector with its high intrinsic quality spices. The scope of spices like turmeric, ginger, fenugreek, garlic, and red pepper in the nutraceutical industry with their possible role in the control and prevention of important health disorders are examined. The demand for nutraceutical products has gone up as more people are turning to natural products for treating lifestyle diseases. This review deals with the history and origin of spices and their potential uses as well as future prospects in treatment of various diseases in a natural way.
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The Health Benefits Of Spices

Although herbs and spices are not often consumed in large quantities, and even small doses of them can be a powerful source of anti-inflammatories, nutrients, antioxidants agents, cancer-fighting constituents, minerals, vitamins, and more.

Cinnamon

Cinnamon has the property of lowering blood sugar levels and has a potential anti-diabetic effect. It is a very popular spice, which is found in all sorts of recipes and baked goods. Cinnamaldehyde, the prime constituent of cinnamon, is responsible for it's medicinal properties. Cinnamon has high antioxidant activity, which helps fight inflammation and has also been shown to reduce cholesterol and triglycerides in blood serum. But the most important activity of cinnamon is its action on blood sugar levels. Cinnamon has several mechanisms to lower blood sugar, including slowing down the breakdown of carbs in the digestive tract and increasing insulin sensitivity. Studies have revealed that cinnamon can reduce fasting blood sugars by a significant amount, ie. 10-29% in diabetic patients. The effective dose of cinnamon to have beneficial effects is typically 0.5-2 teaspoons of cinnamon per day or 1-6 grams.

Turmeric

Turmeric contains curcumin, a substance with powerful anti-inflammatory effects. Although it contains various compounds with medicinal properties, the most important of them is curcumin. Curcumin is a significant potential antioxidant, which helps in fighting with oxidative damage and also boosting the body's own antioxidant enzymes. Oxidative damage is believed to be one of the key mechanisms behind aging and many diseases; hence, it very important to reduce these kinds of reactions in the body. Curcumin is also strongly anti-inflammatory, as it matches the effectiveness of many anti-inflammatory drugs. Many studies have also suggested that it can improve brain functioning, fight against Alzheimer's, subside the risk of heart disease and cancer, and relieve arthritis to a large extent.

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