Herbs and spices are among the most versatile ingredients in food processing, and alongside their sustained popularity as flavourants and colourants they are increasingly being used for their natural preservative and potential health-promoting properties. The Complete Book of Herbs and Spices provides a comprehensive guide to the properties, production and application of a wide variety of commercially-significant herbs and spices. Begins with an introduction to herbs and spices, discussing their definition, and applications. Both the quality specifications for herbs and spices and the quality indices for spice essential oils are reviewed in detail. Each chapter provides detailed coverage of a single herb or spice. The book consists of 12 chapters written by an expert active in the research of plants and bioactive compounds

Preface

1. Introduction to Herbs and Spices

2. Herbs, Spices and their Active Components as Natural Antimicrobials in Foods

3. The Effect of Natural Antioxidants in Herbs and Spices on Food Shelf-life

4. Health Benefits of Herbs and Spices

5. Methods of Analysis of Herbs and Spices

6. Ajowan

7. Aniseed

8. Asafoetida

9. Allspice and Caper

10. Kaffir Lime, Lavender and Cymbopogon

11. Lovage, Nigella and Oregano

12. Other Herbs and Spices

Index.

Thomas Wilson (born 11 September 1979) is a scientist in the field of organic chemistry from United Kingdom. He is known for his research in various areas relating to natural product chemistry. He has more than 40 research publications. He was recognised as the most productive scientist. He graduated with BSc later pursued his MSc in organic chemistry and then got his PhD in organic chemistry with thesis titled as "The Isolation and Structural Studies on Some Medicinal Plants." He did his post-doctoral studies at Cornell University, United States.