CUMIN: Origin, health benefits & How it’s used
Cumin is one of the most popular
spices that is found throughout the globe, be it in North Africa, the middle
east, or the Indian subcontinent. The love for his spice for its warm earthy
flavor is on the surge.
Etymology
The term comes from Middle
English and Old French from the Latin term Cuminum. This in
turn comes from the ancient Greek (Kuminon), a Semitic borrowing related
to Hebrew ( kammon) and Arabic ( Kammun). It has
been found that a 4000 years old
excavations in Syria and ancient Egypt were used for both cooking spices and
mummification purposes. It has been used for ages in India by the Greeks and
Romans as a premium spice.
Description
It is the seed of the herb Cuminum
cyminum, a member of the parsley family. The cumin plant grows to 30-50cm
tall and is harvested by hand. Each branch has two to three sub-branches. All
the branches attain the same height, so the plant has a uniform canopy. The
flowers are small, white or pink, and borne in umbels. Each umbel has five to
seven umbellets . Cumin seeds have eight ridges with oil canals.
Benefits
- Antioxidant
in nature, as cumin seeds contain
naturally occurring substances. These substances (apigenin & luteolin)
keep away the tiny free radicals that attack healthy cells from being
successful. Cumin keeps you healthy and energetic and helps your skin in
de-aging as well.
- Very
effective in controlling blood sugar as it was used as a
part of an herbal drug trial for diabetes. Diabetic animals in lab studies
were found to benefit from consuming cumin. Generally, it is accepted that
cumin oil is a hypoglycemic agent.
- The
active ingredients in cumin seeds have an anti-inflammatory and
antiseptic effect. This means that if inflammation occurs, cumin in your
diet may counter the effects.
- Overweight
women that were given cumin powder and ate a healthy diet showed
improvement in weight reduction in their weight and vital
statistics.
Cumin can help your body by
stimulating your central nervous system to be more effective, thus Boosting
memory.
Cumins seeds are often chewed as
a digestive aid, typically offered at the end of a meal for this purpose, Cumin
is also high in iron and contains phytonutrients and antioxidants.
Whole seeds are very frequently
used in Indian dishes, often added to the hot oil at the beginning of cooking
to infuse the oil and add flavor to the rest of the ingredients, whole seeds
can be kept in the freezer for a long period and still maintains it’s flavor.
Ground cumin does not need heat
or time to be released. Once the seeds are ground the cumin will gradually lose
its flavor over time and should be replaced regularly by Natural food
products.
Cultivation and
production
India is the world’s largest producer
of cumin, accounting for about 70% of the total production globally. Other
major players are Syria(13%) , Turkey (5%) , UAE ( 3%). India produced 850,000
tons of cumin seeds in the fiscal year 2020-21’.
As for cultivation, the seeds
need 2 to 5 degrees Celcius for emergence and, an optimal 20-30 degrees Celcius
is suggested. Two sowing methods are used for cumin, broadcasting, and line
sowing to cultivate the best organic products.
In the case of broadcasting, the
field is divided into beds, and seeds are uniformly broadcast in the bed,
thereafter it is covered with soil using a rake.
For line sowing, shallow furrows
are prepared with hooks at a distance of 20 to 25cm, the seeds are then placed
in these furrows and covered with soil.
Source: https://lyfepure.com/
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