Cumin is a strong tasting spice that is derived from the seed is a small plant belonging to the parsley and celery family. It's technical or Latin name is Cuminum cyminum, and the name of it's plant family is Umbelliferae, a group of plants which includes celery, anise, fennel, and caraway. Interesting, all of these plants produce a slender seed, and all of these seeds are common spices. The seed may be purchased either whole or in the ground form. Unfortunately, most of the healing powers found within these seeds are lost when they are ground, processed, and irradiated. That is why commercial sources of these spices provide minimal healing properties.

While Americans are familiar with the look and taste of caraway seeds, which are commonly added to baked goods, especially rye bread, few individuals have ever eaten cumin seeds. While cumin seeds look and smell like caraway seeds, their flavor is far more pungent. In fact, the strong flavor is the reason for the decline in its use; while cumin was one of the most commonly used spices in ancient times, including Middle Age Europe, it has been entirely displaced in western cooking by the milder caraway. Because of it's overpowering flavor, cumin is rarely used in American cooking. The oil, an infamous medicine of the ancient world, has only rarely been used in today's Western medicine. Yet, its use for humanity is ancient and prolonged. As described by Mathias in Economic Botany the plants of the cumin family have been used for food and medicine since humanity's "earliest written records." Thus, for the vast majority of Americans, cumin represents a new experience in the realm of edible spices.

Cumin was a favorite spice of the ancients and was heavily used in cooking and medicine of the Babylonians and Egyptians. It is mentioned in the bible in Isaiah (Chapter 28: 25,27) and Mathew (Chapter 23:23). Both Hippocrates and Dioscorides described its medicinal attributes. In the Middle Ages, both in Europe and Asia, it was commonly used as a natural medicine and was well known for its positive effects upon the circulation and digestion.

Oil of Cumin

The seeds of cumin are rich in an oil which consists of a variety of fascinating compounds. Most predominant is a substance known as cuminaldehyde, which accounts for up to 40% of the oil content.

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