@article {1400, title = {Role of Spices in Offering Natural Immunity to Fight Various Diseases}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Journal}, volume = {13}, year = {2021}, month = {March 2021}, pages = {600-613}, type = {Review Article}, chapter = {600}, abstract = {

Adequate nutrition intake is one of main factors to strengthen immunity. Traditional and cultural practices of food consumption involve use of several spices in limited quantities as part of food. Spices have offered versatile biological effects due to presence of valuable biochemicals. The aim of the present paper is to review published scientific evidence on potential role of spices in offering innate and adaptive immunity to human body. It has been demonstrated that, turmeric, one of the widely used spices, acts as an anti-viral agent through inhibition of viral entry into cells, suppression of viral replication and modulation of cytokines. A field study revealed that nations with higher consumption of spices have shown lesser COVID-19 cases and higher recovery rates. Further, spices also have shown to possess antioxidant activity superior or equivalent to ascorbic acid and are known to regulate inflammation processes. Evidence generated from the published literature is compelling to arrive at a conclusion that consumption of spices might improve immunity there by offering protection against various diseases including COVID-19. It is also noted that there are lesser number of human clinical trials in this area which warrants immediate attention to provide scientific evidence to immunity offered by spices.

}, keywords = {COVID-19, Diet, Immunity, Nutrition, Spices}, doi = {10.5530/pj.2021.13.76}, author = {T Sudhakar Johnson and D. B. Anantha Narayana} } @article {363, title = {Standardization and Chemical Analysis of Rasam: A South Indian Traditional Functional Food}, journal = {Pharmacognosy Journal}, volume = {9}, year = {2017}, month = {July 2017}, pages = {587-593}, type = {Original Article}, chapter = {587}, abstract = {

Objective: The traditional Indian food is \“functional\” as it contains high amounts of dietary fiber, antioxidants, and probiotics. Rasam is a South Indian traditional spice soup. Spices are reputed to possess several pharmacological properties. Due to geographical, ethnical, and traditional differences, rasam recipe and the preparation process have a wide difference. Hence, the objective was to standardize rasam and then to perform a chemical analysis so that its pharmaceutical potential beyond nutritive effect can be explored. Materials and Methods: The quantity of ingredients and the process followed for preparing rasam by the 17 volunteers selected from in and around Vellore, Tamil Nadu was standardized. The proximate, nutritive, elemental, and phytochemical analysis were determined for the standardized rasam. Results: The total ash, acid insoluble ash, water soluble ash, and sulfated ash were found to be 1.7\%, 0.04\%, 0.12\%, and 1.86\%, respectively. The extractive values such as water soluble, ethanol soluble, and ether soluble were found to be 4.5\%, 3.93\%, and 0.61\%, respectively. The standardized rasam showed very low-energy content of 15.13 kcal/100 g. Rasam contained alkaloids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, glycosides. and volatile oil. Conclusion: The ingredients used in the preparation of rasam are medicinally claimed for various ailments, which makes it a traditional functional food. The standardized procedure provided tremendous opportunity to study the pharmaceutical potential in a systematic scientific way beyond its culinary and nutritive effect.

}, keywords = {Chaaru, Elemental analysis, Nutritional Value, Proximate Analysis, Saaru, Spices}, doi = {10.5530/pj.2017.5.93}, url = {/files/pj-9-5/10.5530pj.2017.5.93/index.html}, author = {Agilandeswari Devarajan and Muthu Kumaradoss Mohan Maruga Raja} }