Abstract
Coriander, named as Coriandrum sativum Linn, belongs to the family Umbelliferae and is one of the most popular and well-known spices/condiments and herbal medicines. The essential oils and fatty oils are the two major active chemical constituents present in the plant. The other minor ingredients found to be present are monoterpenes hydrocarbons i-e limonene, γ-terpinene, α-pinene, p-cymene, borneol, citronellol, camphor, geraniol, and geraniol acetate and abd heterocyclic components such as pyrazine, pyridine, thiazole, furan and tetrahudrofuran derivatives, isocoumarins, coriandrin, dihydrocoriandrin, coriandrons A-E, flavonoids. The volatile oil from the leaf contains aromatic acids such as 2-decenoic acid, E-11-tetradecenoic acid, undecyl alcohol, tridecanoic acid, capric acid, undecanoic acid, and more. The current pharmacological research reveals the application of coriander has antibacterial and antifungal activity.
TopIntroduction
The genus Coriandrum has included two species, the cultivated species C. sativum and wild species C. tordylium. The name ‘cilantro’ has been randomly as well as frequently employed in American English which is referred to as green herb or dried leaves. The origin of Coriandrum sativum is still unknown; even many authors and scientists have described coriander to be as a wild plant in nature. But no specific information is available about the same fact. In 1780, Linnaeus had reported coriander occurred as a weed in cereals (Diederichsen, 1996).The ‘Coriandrum' is coined from koros, referring to the disagreeable odor of the leaves (Shelef, 2003).
Family:Umbelliferae Juss. ;455 genera; 3600-3751 species
Subfamily:Apioideae Drude; 404 genera; 2827-2936 species
Tribe:Coriandreae W. Koch; 8 genera; 21 species
Genera:Bifora F. Hoffm.;3 species
Common Names Used Worldwide (Diederichsen, 1996).
Arab :kuzbara, kuzbura
Armenian :chamem
Chinese :yuan sui, hu sui
Czec :koriandr
Danish :koriander
Dutc :koriander
English :coriander, collender, chinese parsley
Ethiopian :dembilal
French :coriandre, persil arabe
Georgian :kinza, kindza, kindz
German :koriander, Wanzendill, Schwindelkorn
Greek :koriannon, korion
Hindi :dhania, dhanya
Hungarian :coriander
Italian :coriandolo
Japanese :koendoro
Malay :ketumbar
Persian :geshnes
Polish :kolendra
Portuguese :coentro
Rumanian :coriándru
Russian :koriandr, koljandra, ki nec, kinza, vonju ee zel’e, klopovnik
Sanskrit :dhanayaka, kusthumbari
Spanish :coriandro, cilantro, cilandrio, culantro
Swiss :chrapfechörnli, Böbberli, Rügelikümmi
Turkish :kisnis
Vernacular Indian Names(Diederichsen, 1996).
Bengali : dhane, dhania
Gujarati : kothmiri, konphir, libdhane
Kannada : kothambri, kothmiri bija
Kashmiri : daaniwal, kothambalari
Malayalam : kothumpkalari bija, kothumpalari
Marathi :dhana, kothimber
Oriya : dhania
Punjabi : dhania
Tamil : kothamali
Telugu : dhaniyalu
TopHabitat And Cultivation
The plant was brought from east Egypt to Southern Europe by Romans. Now, it has been found in North Africa, Russia, USA, and India (Shelef, 2003). The crop is cultivated as Kharif or as rabi crop. It requires light to heavy black soil, followed by a drilling method. It is occasionally rotated with wheat, grain, jowar and onion; and even also has grown along with cotton, or sugarcane as a mixed crop (Kokate, 2007).