Coriandrum sativum: A promising functional and medicinal food Chawla Snigdha1,*, Thakur Monika2 1School of Biotechnology, Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201308, India 2Amity Institute of Food Technology, Amity University, Sector-125, Noida, Uttar Pradesh - 201303, India *Corresponding author: Snigdha Chawla, E-mail: chawla_snigdha@yahoo.com
Online published on 26 June, 2013. Abstract Coriandrum sativum is a promising functional food which not only provides nutrition, but also has medicinal benefits. It is a widely grown herb and most commonly used spice in India. Coriander is cultivated for both leaves and seeds. The traditional use of coriander is two-fold: medicinal and culinary. It contains bio-active components, mainly α-pinene, α-terpinene and limonene along with flavonoids, coumarins, phthalides and phenolic acids. Coriandrum sativum has been reported to have several potential health benefits like antioxidant activity, digestive stimulant, anti-hypertensive, cholesterol-lowering, anticancer effect and many more. This potential can further be explored and exploited to develop new formulations and coriander can be used as a complete and promising functional food. Top Keywords Coriandrum sativum, bioactive components, health benefits, antioxidant activity, anti-carcinogenic, anti-diabetic, diuretic. Top |