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- Some uses for Oregano include:
Immune stimulant
Antibiotic and Antiseptic
Food Poisoning
Anti-viral
Fungal Infections
Antioxidant protection
- Adults: take 2 x 200mg per day Â
Canadian Oregano is one of the more exciting new supplements for immune health
since oregano oil has been well known for a cold, flu or other infection.
- Oregano is an important culinary herb, used for the flavor of its leaves, which can be more flavourful
when dried than fresh. It has an aromatic, warm and slightly bitter taste, which can vary in intensity.
Good quality oregano may be strong enough almost to numb the tongue,
but the cultivars adapted to colder climates often have a lesser flavor.
Factors such as climate, seasons and soil composition may affect the aromatic oils present,
and this effect may be greater than the differences between the various species of plants.
- Oregano's most prominent modern use is as the staple herb of Italian-American cuisine.
Its popularity in the US began when soldiers returning from World War II brought back with them a taste
for the "pizza herb", which had probably been eaten in southern Italy for centuries.
There, it is most frequently used with roasted, fried or grilled vegetables, meat and fish.
Unlike most Italian herbs, oregano combines well with spicy foods, which are popular in southern Italy.
It is less commonly used in the north of the country, as marjoram generally is preferred.
The herb is also widely used in Turkish, Palestinian, Syrian, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, Philippine
and Latin American cuisines.
In Turkish cuisine, oregano is mostly used for flavoring meat, especially for mutton and lamb.
In barbecue and kebab restaurants, it can be usually found on table, together with paprika, salt and pepper.
The leaves are most often used in Greece to add flavor to Greek salad, and is usually added to the lemon-olive
oil sauce that accompanies many fish or meat barbecues and some casseroles.
Oregano is also used by chefs in the southern Philippines to eliminate the odor of carabao or beef
when boiling it, while simultaneously imparting flavor.
Hippocrates used oregano as an antiseptic, as well as a cure for stomach and respiratory ailments.
A Cretan oregano (O. dictamnus) is still used today in Greece as a palliative for sore throat.
Oregano is high in antioxidant activity, due to a high content of phenolic acids and flavonoids.
It also has shown antimicrobial activity against strains of the food-borne pathogen Listeria monocytogenes. |
