Science
Most of what makes a heritage spice different from a supermarket one is one or two molecules — and almost always present in measurable, lab-verifiable amounts. A short reading list for the cook who wants to know what is actually happening in the pan.
Polyphenol
Curcumin is the polyphenol that gives turmeric its yellow colour and most of its medicinal reputation. Lakadong turmeric from Meghalaya carries 7–9% curcumin; supermarket turmeric averages 1.5–3%. Heat plus a small amount of fat (ghee, oil) makes curcumin more bioavailable — which is why almost every Indian dish blooms turmeric in hot oil first.
Read the full glossary entry on curcumin →Alkaloid
Piperine is the alkaloid in black pepper that makes it taste hot. It is also the reason almost every traditional curry uses both turmeric and pepper: piperine raises curcumin bioavailability by roughly 2,000% by slowing its breakdown in the liver. Tellicherry-grade pepper carries 5–6% piperine; supermarket pre-ground pepper averages 3–4%.
Read the full glossary entry on piperine →Phenolic
Eugenol is the phenolic compound that gives clove, allspice, and (in smaller amounts) cinnamon their warm, slightly numbing character. It is antimicrobial enough that it has been used as a dental anaesthetic for two centuries. A whole clove from a single estate carries 14–17% eugenol; commodity clove often falls below 10%.
Read the full glossary entry on eugenol →Phenolic
Cinnamaldehyde is the molecule that makes cinnamon taste like cinnamon. Ceylon cinnamon and Cassia both carry it, but Cassia carries far more coumarin — a compound that, at supermarket-tea levels, exceeds the EU's tolerable daily intake for a 60kg adult in under three cups. Ceylon contains coumarin in trace amounts only.
Read the full glossary entry on cinnamaldehyde →Phenolic
Gingerol is the molecule that makes fresh ginger sharp and pungent. When ginger is cooked, gingerol converts to zingerone (sweeter, milder) and shogaol (hotter, deeper). Dried ginger is mostly shogaol — which is why dried ginger tea tastes warming in a different way to fresh ginger tea.
Read the full glossary entry on gingerol →Sulphur compound
Allicin is not present in an intact garlic clove. It forms in seconds when garlic is crushed or chopped — an enzyme (alliinase) meets a stored compound (alliin) and produces allicin as a defense against being eaten. Heat destroys allicin within about ten minutes, which is why bruising garlic and waiting before cooking changes its character so dramatically.
Read the full glossary entry on allicin →Curcumin
polyphenol
Gingerol
phenolic
Piperine
alkaloid
Eugenol
essential-oil
Cinnamaldehyde
essential-oil
Withanolides
adaptogen
1,8-Cineole (Eucalyptol)
terpene
Cuminaldehyde
essential-oil
Trigonelline
alkaloid
Crocin
polyphenol
Anethole
essential-oil
Myristicin
essential-oil
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