Journal articles on the topic 'Aromatic herbs by-products'

India is one of the major exporters of crude drugs including Medicated and Aromatic Plants globally. As per the latest and most recent data available, in 2012-2013 India’s total export of Ayush, Medicinal herbs and their value added products was USD 395.58 million. State of Uttarakhand in India is a natural habitat of the prosperous varieties of herbs, medicinal and aromatic plant species. The Government of Uttarakhand state has also realised this big potential and is continuously trying to tap this wealth. In 2012-2013 the state exported culinary herbs, Aromatic products and medicated products worth ` 29.0 crore. The aim of this study of MAP products in Uttarakhand state is to evaluate the impact of cultivation of MAP products, in relation to the new employment generation and also to study the supply chain management in context to the activities of various agencies engaged in collection, distribution and auction. This paper focuses on the cultivation program running in Uttrakhand by HRDI and its importance in employment generation in the hilly districts. It is very evident in today’s time that a strong supply chain is basic necessity for every organised business to sustain and to be successful in long run. This paper also studies the existing supply chain for MAP products and investigates the loopholes for further improvement so that the cultivators of MAP get maximum monetary benefits with minimum problems. In addition to that, role of different corporations like KMVN, GMVN and Bhesaj Corporation in marketing of these MAP products has also been discussed under the presented study.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ijssm.v2i2.12396 Int. J. Soc. Sci. Manage. Vol-2, issue-2: 148-156

Mints have been among the most widely used herbs for medicinal purposes since ancient civilizations. They are still presently used for numerous purposes, including non-medicinal, which makes them economically relevant herbs. Information regarding the medical and scientific uses given to mints throughout history are vastly scattered and/or incomplete. The aim of this paper is to provide an extensive descriptive overview of the medical uses given to these herbs, highlighting both the authors in medical culture responsible for their dissemination, as well as their major galenic formulations. Databases on medical science, reference textbooks on medical history, botanics (aromatic herbs), and pharmacognosy were consulted. The use of mints remotes to Classical Antiquity, with major contributions from Pliny the Elder. In the Middle Ages, the increased knowledge surrounding mints came from Byzantine physicians, while, in the Modern Age, technological developments allowed the production of mint-based products which have become part of elaborate galenic formulas employed by an increasing number of physicians, as well as have also stimulated both scientific and artistic interests alike. In present-day medicine, several mints and mint-based products are being researched as potential therapeutic alternatives for many diseases, while also being vastly employed in food and cosmetic industries.

Aroma is an important quality parameter of fresh culinary herbs that may be highly affected after postharvest treatments. The innovative technology of vapor essential oil (EO) application under vacuum conditions may recover aroma lost during the postharvest processing of plant products like aromatic herbs. Hence, this study assessed the aroma recovery effect of vapor EOs applied during vacuum cooling on curly parsley and dill. The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) profiles of these aromatic herbs were studied by static headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME), and the VOCs sorption kinetics onto the SPME stir-bar coating were modeled by the Baranyi model. At the pilot plant scale, the total VOCs contents of parsley and dill (whose extractability was increased by 10–20% after a single vacuum process) were enhanced by 4.5- and 2-fold, respectively, when vapor EOs were applied. In particular, 1,3,8-p-menthatriene and carvone (parsley) increased by 18.7- and 7.3-fold, respectively, while dill ether (the characteristic VOC of dill) augmented by 2.4-fold after vapor EOs were applied under vacuum conditions. The aroma recovery of culinary herbs was successfully validated at an industrial level in an installation developed by our group to apply vapor EOs within a vacuum cooling system, reaching total VOC recoveries of 4.9- and 2.3-fold in parsley and dill, respectively.

With the aim to expand the olive oil market to a larger number of consumers who are not familiar with the sensory characteristics of virgin olive oil, the use of novel products known as “flavored olive oils”, obtained by adding different kind of spices and aromatic herbs, is spreading in many countries. In order to test consumer acceptability of this type of product, in a country (Tunisia) in which virgin olive oil is regularly consumed, flavored olive oils were prepared by adding aromatic extracts of thyme, oregano, a mix of herbs (used as pizza seasoning), rosemary, and basil to a monovarietal Chemlali virgin olive oil and a consumer test on 206 subjects was performed. Selected quality parameters (free acidity, peroxide number, oxidative stability, specific absorption at K232 nm and K270 nm) were also measured and no significant variations were detected. Slight differences were found concerning the content of minor compounds (chlorophylls, carotenoids and total phenols). On the other hand, notable differences were seen in the profiles of volatile compounds, which appeared to be responsible for the observed variability in consumer acceptance. Although the unflavored oil was more appreciated than the flavored ones, among the latter, thyme flavored olive oil was the most appreciated.

The instant rising demand of plant-based drugs is unfortunately creating heavy pressure on some selected high-value medicinal plant population in the wild. The safety, quality and efficacy of these products have become a major concern for health authorities and the consumers. Unavailability of proper production technology and suitable area of cultivation, post-harvest processing, market constraints and low economic returns as compared to major cereal crops, are the main problems in cultivation of these herbs and spices. Safe, efficacious and a high-quality product showing batch to batch consistency can be maintained by following harvesting and post harvesting standard guidelines for MAPs (Medicinal & Aromatic Plants).

Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have been identified as one of the potential high value commodities in Nepal with huge prospects for economic development. However, data about MAP consumption, volumes of trade and levels of demand are inadequate. In Nepal, there is a general lack of reliable trade data that constrains the estimation of total amount of MAPs in trade. This study aims to assess current trends in volume and value of MAP commodities exported from Nepal and identify the major destination countries. We mainly used formal trade data of Nepalese MAP products over the last 10 years (2005 to 2014) from the repository of UN COMTRADE database accessed via TRADE MAP. Results indicated that the export value of MAP products increased from USD 27.49 million in 2005 to USD 60.09 million in 2014 (mean for the last 10 years being USD 39.34 million) and this increment is primarily due to increase in price, as the trade volume follows decreasing trend over the same periods. The average annual export amount of Nepalese MAP products for the last 10 years has been calculated to be 13.23 thousand tons (range 10.77–20.25 thousand tons). The rise in export value of MAP products indicates increasing demand of MAPs globally. Nepalese MAP commodities were exported to almost 50 destinations. In terms of volume, India has been the major importer of MAP materials all these years. However, China stood top among the countries sharing high value to Nepalese MAP trade. The trade statistics show that, for the total trade value considering the MAP materials at broad category, the export of products (e.g., spices and flavors) other than listed in HS code 1211 should also be considered for appropriate valuation. Despite the decrease in trade amount, spices and flavors have fetched a gradually increasing price per unit volume which is apparent by the fact that these herbs have ever increasing market demand. Nepal can reap maximum benefit from growing international demand of MAPs given that Government impose strict check in borders to minimize the underestimation, train concerned authorities in proper identification of MAPs products and help to develop species-specific 8- and 10-digit HS Codes for proper documentation of imports and exports of MAPs products.Botanica Orientalis – Journal of Plant Science (2016) 10: 24–32

AbstractIn the confectionery market, jelly gums are one of the most relevant sectors, being frequently consumed by many people, from children to adults. The present work intended to evaluate the textural properties in newly developed jelly gums made with berry fruits and herbs, given the critical role of texture in products with a gel-like structure. Four types of gums were developed (Strawberry & Anise, Strawberry & Mint, Raspberry & Mint, Blueberry & Mint) and their texture was evaluated through two types of tests (compression with a 75 mm probe and puncture with a 2 mm probe) allowing to calculate several textural properties. The results showed some differences between the two faces of the jelly gums analysed, i.e. on the top and on the bottom. As for the compression test, the Strawberry & Anise gums were among the softer (25.6 N) and with lower resilience (36.3%) and chewiness (16.9 N), despite being more adhesive (−0.5 N s). As for the puncture test, the sample Strawberry & Mint had the highest adhesiveness (−2.0 N s) but the lowest stickiness (−0.38 N). Additionally, very strong correlations were encountered between some of the properties studied (r = 0.861 or r = 0.822), and the factor analysis allowed defining three factors, the first clearly associated with the puncture properties while the other two were related to the compression properties. This work allowed concluding that the jelly gums presented different textural properties, particularly when assessed through different types of measurements. Hence, the use of different types of tests for texture analysis is recommended, since the results are complementary. This is relevant when developing food products intended for industrial production and commercialization.

Comminuted meat products are highly susceptible to safety and quality degradation partly because of their large interfacial area in the emulsion. The food industry extensively uses synthetic chemical preservatives to delay that degradation which is caused by microbial growth, enzyme activities and oxidation reactions. However, due to the potential health damage (e.g., cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, cancers among others) synthetic preservatives in meat may cause, consumers are becoming skeptical to buy meat products containing such additives. In the meat industry, the interest of finding natural food preservatives is intensifying. Polyphenolic-rich plants used as natural food preservatives offer the best alternative for a partial or a complete replacement of their synthetic counterparts. They can be extracted from natural sources such as olives, fruits, grapes, vegetables, spices, herbs, and algae, and among others. The common feature of these phenolic compounds is that they have one or more aromatic rings with one or more -OH group which are essential for their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. This review article is intended to provide an overview of the plant-based phenolic molecules used as natural food preservative, their antimicrobial and antioxidant mechanism of action, and their potential application in comminuted meat.

Abstract The aim of this article is to examine how the sense of smell and aroma compounds influence the quality of food of animal origin, and to review gas chromatography-olfactometry methods of volatile substances analysis that can help to promote regional animal products. Smell and smell-inducing compounds play an important role in human life. People have made use of aromatic herbs and spices for ages. The classification of smells was developed by, among others, Aristotle, Linnaeus, Zwaardemaker, as well as Amoore, the creator of the stereochemical theory of olfaction. Smell is also of exceptional importance in a consumer’s evaluation of food quality. Achievements in the area of chromatography, mass spectrometry and olfactometry have contributed to the development of tests for the content of volatile compounds in food materials, e.g. milk, cheese or meat. Analysis of these compounds is more and more often applied to regional products that are commonly characterised by different olfactory properties. The study’s results of raw meat of different animal species show that nutria meat and mutton differ the most from others. Apart from genetic factors, meat composition depends on feeding method, quality and type of fodder, method of cutting, meat seasoning, pH and temperature of processing. Chromatographic and olfactometric tests on animal products, in conjunction with chemometrics, can contribute to the development of reliable characteristics and help to identify the products’ origin. These tests are becoming an inseparable part of the policy of promotion of regional products with specific taste and olfactory properties.

Introduction. The analysis of agricultural diversity projects made on the materials of studies in the Lower Volga region, the Kalmyk Region and the German Republic allows to solve 2 problems. Firstly, it defines the possibilities of expanding the species of industrial crops, medicinal and aromatic herbs. Secondly, it suggests the idea to increase the distribution of certain farmlands (namely of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain) by means of elaborating the directions of their development. The article contains the results of research works performed during the 20–30s of the 20th century on the territory of current Astrakhan, Volgograd, Saratov regions and the Republic of Kalmykia. The work evaluates the opportunities of using these territories for increasing gross regional product. Methods and materials. The methods of the research: the principles of historicism and objectivity, analysis, synthesis, the historical and genetic method, the systematic approach. The works of N.I. Anisimov, V.P. Danilov, V.A. Ilinykh and others study collectivization, strengthening of agricultural material and technical resources. Since 90s of the 20th century the representatives of non-historical sciences have been studying the conditions of flora in different regions of Russia, the specifics of economic use of unique natural objects. Analysis. The article gives the analysis of projects on cultivating new species of industrial, medicinal, aromatic crops, sericulture. The paper considers the plans of developing the Volga-Akhtuba flood plain as well. Using the previous experience improves modern developments. Results. The authors came to the conclusion on the possibility of cultivating new industrial crops (sunflower, mustard, linen, tobacco, hemp, cotton, soy, castor bean, kenaf, peanut, poppy), medicinal and aromatic herbs and carried out zoning of planting, including with ensuring the complex use of the Volga-Akhtuba flood plain. An increased acreage for sericulture was planned. The population was distrustful to plans for cultivating new cultures. This was due to the lack of knowledge in agronomy and errors in the choice of planting material. The productivity became lower than at pilot farms. The reduction in research financing did not give the chance to overcome these negative factors. Besides, obtaining good results demanded irrigation, which passed in the Lower Volga region in the middle of the 20th century. Now using specified developments can become one of the directions of developing the agriculture of the Lower Volga region as the problems of conducting agriculturalproduction stated above become more surmountable on current material and technical resources. Earlier the crops under consideration were grown up in Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan. Now these states are independent, so it is reasonable to produce a larger range of agricultural products in Russian regions to improve food security.

Essential oils (EOs) extracted from natural products are made up of large number of chemical constituents. Being natural mixtures of very complex nature, essential oils may consist of about 20-60 components at quite different concentrations. Essential oils are characterized by two or three major components being present at fairly high concentrations (20-70%) in comparison to other components that are present in trace amounts. From that reason one plant can provide a pool of chemical ingredients that cause a whole range of activities. The present paper analyzes the activities in the space of the chemical constituents of EOs of 7 medicinal plants from Lamiaceae family known as peppermint, oregano, thyme, rosemary, sage, basil and lemon balm. The hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) was applied to explore the similarities and dissimilarities between the 7 Lamiaceae herbs, and chemical constituents of their EOs together with their antioxidant and antibacterial activity. More in-depth examination of the data was achieved by color map. HCA indicated the uniqueness of each essential oil considered. The high content of certain compounds, as well as the unique presence of other chemical constituents were identified for each EO. HCA grouped the studied EOs into two clusters: one with peppermint, oregano and thyme, and the other with rosemary and sage, while basil and lemon balm were non-clustered.

Abstract Phenols or phenolics are a class of compounds that have one or more hydroxyl groups attached to a 6-carbon aromatic ring, they occur as plant secondary metabolites, having in common the antioxidant activity. Their average daily intake varies widely around the world. Many researchers consider coffee, tea, wine, cocoa products, fruits and vegetables as the main sources of polyphenols in different diets. However, spices and culinary herbs have been referred to as the foods richest in polyphenols. Despite spices and culinary herbs are used in small amounts as seasonings, their contribution to the dietary supply of phytonutrients should not be disregarded. A diet rich in a variety of polyphenols (and other phytonutrients) has potential health benefits, namely in the prevention of chronic diseases and cancer. In addition, flavor and color are the most important factors for the selection of food by consumers. A multitude of endogenous food compounds, including phenolics, are involved in food flavor. The presence of phenolic compounds in the food matrix has been mainly associated with the perception of bitter taste and tactile sensation of astringency. However, these compounds can also impact the color and aroma notes of fruits and vegetables. Thus, understanding the sensory impact of these substances and relationships with consumers’ approaches towards phenolic-rich fruits and vegetables may help find strategies to increase the consumption of such foods. A well-known example of a tasty, healthy and sustainable dietary model is the Mediterranean Diet. In this study, we summarize the dietary intake of some polyphenols from different dietary patterns around the world and the contribution of natural phenolic compounds to the flavor of food and beverages, in particularly those associated to the Mediterranean Diet.

Background: The world is fulfilled by various medicinal plants which are widely have been used in treatment of various diseases since ancient time. Medicinal plants still play an important role in emerging and developing countries. Herbs are staging a comeback and herbal ‘renaissance’ is happening all over the globe. The herbal products today symbolize safety in contrast to the synthetics that are regarded as unsafe to human and environment. Although herbs had been priced for their medicinal, flavoring and aromatic qualities. In this research, sittamatti (Sida cordifolia) has been reported to possess analgesic, anti-inflammatory and hypoglycemic activities as well as hepato-protective activity. Traditionally the plant Sida cordifolia (Linn) has been used as CNS depressant, fat lose, analgesics, anti-inflammatory, hypotensive, hepato protective. Presence of ephedrine has highlighted the utility of this plant. various Ayurvedic preparation of this plant used in asthma diseases, etc. Methods: This plant spread in Mullaitivu commonly therefore utilize that as Cough decoction. First authentication of plant with experts from University of Jaffna and collecting, washing, drying and grinded for decoction preparation size. Then packing and labeling and distribute to selected 60 research samples of two groups to clinical trial and collected data through questionnaire and result analyzing in statistical way. Result: Group-I & Group-II 1st Week (AFTER treatment) level of the samples. The test is significant at 0.0001 (adjusted for ties) Comparing the HT (Group-I), Research Decoction (Group-II) was shown Significant (p<0.05) reduction in symptom of cough. One-month (04 Weeks) of treatment with research decoction significantly (p<0.05) change symptom of cough with the control group- hospital internal treatment (HT) (group-I). Conclusion: effectiveness of research drugs – Sittamati Kudineer, Three months (04 Weeks) of treatment with research decoction significantly (p<0.05) change symptom of cough with the control group- normal hospital internal treatment (HT) (group-I).

ABSTRACT In Brazil, the production of dried herbs and condiments is on a smaller scale than that of its other agricultural sectors; however, it has been growing and attracting new producers, driven by the stimulus to provide healthy and gourmet foods. Insects in the order Psocoptera may cause loss of quality in such dried foods, and because of their small size, these insects can be easily transported by commerce. No information is available on how these insects may be entering Brazil via the importation of dehydrated products or how they may be exported with the increase of Brazilian dried food production. To examine these issues, 10 sites offering foods sold in bulk within the city of São Paulo, Brazil, were chosen. At each food site, the same 20 species of aromatic spice and medicinal dehydrated plants were purchased. In the laboratory, they were analyzed for the presence of insects immediately after acquisition. After removal of nymphal and adult psocopterans, the plants were kept in vials under environmental conditions to be investigated 40 days later. Psocopterans were found in 12 of the 20 dehydrated plant species. Eleven psocopteran species were recorded, including six species of unidentified Liposcelis. Liposcelis bostrychophila (Badonnel) was found in all samples with the presence of insects. The other frequent species were Liposcelis entomophila (Enderlein) and Lepinotus reticulatus (Enderlein). Lepinotus reticulatus constitutes the first record in Brazil. In total, 1,021 insects were recorded in the evaluation right after purchase, and this number grew to 3,734 individuals recovered 40 days later under laboratory conditions. The data show that in a relatively short period of storage, a population increase occurs that may cause loss of product quality and a decrease in organoleptic properties. Thus, it is necessary to have greater surveillance of the products so that consumers have access to quality dehydrated foods.

Traditional foods (TFs) have a significant impact on the society and the economy of the areas where they are produced. The COVID-19 crisis, with the restrictions on daily living, is expected to cause a long-term influence on peoples’ lives worldwide. This paper investigates the consumers’ attitude and perception of TFs of northwest Greece in order to assess the possible impact of the pandemic toward the consumption of this kind of food. A questionnaire survey of self-response was carried out in fall 2020 on a sample of 510 participants through the Google platform. To analyze the data, basic descriptive statistical tools were used, combined with crosstabs and chi-square tests. The results revealed that the participants know the regional TFs well, continue to choose them due to a number of reasons, which include: the quality to price ratio, being local products with local raw materials, the nutritional properties, the social impact, as well as their positive impact to the regional economy and promotion. They buy them primarily from the supermarkets. They would recommend them to others, and they have increased their consumption during the pandemic, even though they consider their marketing inadequate, and they do not purchase them through the Internet yet. They believe that consumers in other regions of Greece would buy them if they had access to them. The foods of choice are traditional cheese and other dairy products, followed by wines, and aromatic herbs, which are the main regional TFs. These results indicate that the COVID-19 crisis has not interfered in consumers’ attitudes and perceptions regarding TFs; therefore, they have the potential to expand and grow further in the future. In fact, they can play a vital role as major economic drivers in the post-COVID-19 era for the regional and local economies of Europe and elsewhere.

Urban agriculture is increasingly recognized for its potential contribution to more sustainable urban development. Urban agriculture includes the cultivation and raising, processing and marketing of food and non-food crops, medicinal and aromatic herbs, fruit trees, as well as animal products within urban and periurban areas. Urban agriculture positively impacts urban food security, local economic development, environmental management and community building. To reconcile the demands posed by urban growth with urban agriculture activities of high social and economic value, urban agriculture however should be included into land use planning and design, and regulated by municipalities, assuring its proper management and avoiding potential health and environmental risks. Open and green urban spaces could be designed for multifunctional urban agriculture and combine natural habitat, food production, educational, recreational and leisure activities. Such design processes would benefit from broad participation of urban planners and architects, urban farmers, citizens and slum inhabitants as to enhance ownership and engagement, more effectively use available local resources and give the process a higher credibility and wider outreach. This article shares the experience of Rosario, Argentina where the city planners and University staff collaborated with two low-income communities in the design and implementation of a multifunctional neighborhood park, public square and road reserve. A step-by-step participatory design process was followed: starting from initial visioning, defining and relating the various existing and multi-functional land uses desired, to elaborating the site plan, and agreeing on implementation procedures. The article briefly contextualizes the site and its inhabitants, illustrates the design process and the results achieved and highlights some of the problems encountered. Participatory design of open spaces for urban agriculture in Rosario- though a complex process- proved to have contributed to improving socio-economic and environmental conditions in the city, while also serving as a source of inspiration to other cities in the region.

Lamjung is highly rich in its vast and valuable Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFP) including different kinds of valuable medicinal and aromatic plants. Nepal is a mountainous country, where most of the people are depend on forest resources for their livelihood. Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFPs) plays a crucial role in the rural livelihood. NTFPs serve as a source for their primary health, nutrition, income generation, energy (fuel wood) and material for a social-cultural and religious ceremony. The research was carried out the specific objectives of identification availability NTFPs, Role of NTFP in local livelihood, prospects, and problems to develop NTFP in the study area. The study was carried out in Chiti, Jita and Taksar Village Development Committee (VDC) of Lamjung District. Primary data were collected through Focus Group Discussion, House Hold Survey, Key Informant Interview, use inventory sheet and direct field observation. Secondary data were collected from different DFO office, library, journals, published articles, reports, online reports etc. The quantitative data were analyzed by using appropriate statistical tools. The qualitative data were analyzed by descriptive measure and presented in forms of charts, figure and tables. There were 52 major NTFPs identified in the study area and all respondents have knowledge about NTFPs, but they are not involved to collect NTFP for commercial purpose. They use only household purposes such as firewood for energy, leaf litter for religious purpose, and wild food and fruits are used for domestic use. The main problems of the development of NTFPs people are gradually leaving use traditional knowledge about medicinal plants. Slowly they became dependent at modern product and most of the people are depending on remittance. NTFPs play a safety net role to assist communities in adverse situation such as crop failure under the current change in climate and variability. Most of the people have knowledge about value of NTFPs and traditional knowledge about medicinal herbs, but such a valuable knowledge regarding use value of NTFPs seems to be disappearing into the younger generations.

Background: Phytotherapy is an important therapeutic option in functional gastrointestinal diseases (FGID). It has a large tradition, with different approaches in different regions of the world, some of which have made their way into modern evidence-based medicine (EBM). Summary: Taking into account the number of herbs in use, and also the cumulated scientific evidence on them, FGID are possibly the most important indication in phytotherapy. This does not only apply for European phytotherapy, but also for other regions, such as Asia. Within European phytotherapy, herbs active in FGID are usually classified according to their main active constituents and their activities. Typically, the herbs used in FGID are grouped into amara, aromatica, amara aromatica combining both properties, herbs stimulating gastric secretion, herbs containing spasmolytic and carminative essential oils or spasmolytic alkaloids, mucilaginosa soothing the mucosa, and flavonoid containing drugs with anti-inflammatory properties. In phytotherapy, different plants are frequently combined to maximize effectiveness and specificity of action. Very potent combination products can be developed when the mechanisms of action of the combination partners are complementary. This approach can be demonstrated by the example of STW 5. For this herbal combination product, therapeutic efficacy in FGID has been clinically proven according to the highest standards of EBM. This example also underlines that modern rational phytotherapy is definitely part of modern EBM. Key Messages: FGID is one of the most important indications in phytotherapy and rationally combined herbal preparations are established evidence-based therapeutic options.

Abstract The aim of the study was to explore dietary supplements containing Echinacea on the Romanian market and their qualitative characterization. The products available on the market were aggregated in 2018, through an electronic search based on the register of the Romanian Medicine Agency (Agenția Națională a Medicamentului şi a Dispozitivelor Medicale din România – ANMDMR) and the list of dietary supplements registered by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare pentru Bioresurse Alimentare – IBA București, Serviciul național pentru plante medicinale, aromatice și produse ale stupului). There are no Echinacea containing medicines registered in Romania. However, there are 58 dietary supplements in the register, 52% of which are mono-components, 29% contain other herbs, plant extract or vitamins, while 19% are registered as tea. The label of 80% of monocomponent products and 76% of multicomponent supplements contains insufficient information: the plant name, its used part and processing methods (grist, extract, quantity) are not clearly identified. Among the listed dietary supplements, the 12 most commonly used formulations in pharmaceutical practice were subjected to phytochemical chromatographic evaluation: TLC and/or HPLC analysis were used. Three of seven monocomponent products showed proper chromatographic fingerprint, by TLC analysis. One monocomponent sample did not have an adequate chromatographic fingerprint. The labelling of multicomponent products was not appropriate. The TLC test suggests that based on the resulting fingerprint they contain E. purpureae herba. However, due to the presence of other components, the TLC does not allow a clear conclusion regarding the exact composition of the products. The developed HPLC method enables quantification of the concentration of caffeic acid, chicoric acid, echinacoside, chlorogenic and caftaric acids mixture in dietary supplements. None of the tested products contained echinacoside, which is a specific component of E. angustifolia and E. pallida root. In our method, the quantification of caftaric acid is approximate, because it partially overlaps the chlorogenic acid, which is a common component of plant samples, but negligible in Echinacea sp. The tested dietary supplements have a caffeic acid content of 20-140 µg/g, a chicoric acid content of 0.19-2.64 mg/g; the mixture of chlorogenic and caftartic acid is about 0.23-2.07 mg/g.

Man has used solar energy to dry perishable products for many years, managing to preserve a wide variety of foods naturally; drying is a method that highly respects the food's properties and nutritional content. The consumption of medicinal and aromatic herbs in Mexico is traditional and widespread. In this work, an analysis of an indirect solar dryer's thermal behavior was carried out with the coupling of solar technologies (water heaters and air collectors and photovoltaic pumping as an aid to the generation of hot air) comparing with electric oven drying in Campeche, Campeche, Mexico. The experimental results showed that the indirect tunnel type dryer that works with evacuated tubes and solar air heater simultaneously is the most efficient technology, with average drying times of 300 min and final humidity of 9.6%. A study of colorimetry, water activity, and drying speed was carried out to control the drying process. It was found that it is possible to use solar energy to dry food as a means of conservation in warm-humid climates, also obtaining significant energy savings and contributing to caring for the environment.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the synergic effect of wild turmeric (Curcuma Aromatica Salisb.) and holy basil (Ocimum Tenuiflorum L.) combination herbal extracts treatment on the moisture management properties of cotton, lyocell and micro-denier single jersey knitted fabrics and the factors affecting it, which is intended for the development of healthcare apparel products. Design/methodology/approach The pre-treated single jersey knitted fabrics of cotton, lyocell and micro-denier polyester fabrics were given finishing treatment with the wild turmeric (Curcuma Aromatica Salisb.) and holy basil (Ocimum Tenuiflorum L.) combination herbal extract proportions of 100%:0%, 75%:25%,50%:50%; 25%:75% and 0%:100%. The D-optimal factorial design developed using Design Expert software was used for the study. The finishing treatments were carried out using the pad−dry−cure method. The aim of the work is to find out the influence of combination herbal extract proportion, textile material and their interaction effect on the moisture management properties. Findings The ANOVA results revealed that the overall moisture management properties of single jersey knitted fabrics are influenced by the material type, combination herbal extract proportion and the interaction between material type and the combination herbal extracts proportion. The overall moisture management properties of combination herbal extracts treated cotton single jersey fabrics are found to be better than that of lyocell and micro-denier polyester fabrics due to their excellent accumulative one-way transport capability after the finishing treatment. Among the combination herbal extract proportions, 50:50 per cent combination herbal extract proportion was found to be better than other proportions. Originality/value The study on the moisture management properties of combination herbal extracts of wild turmeric (Curcuma Aromatica Salisb.) and holy basil (Ocimum Tenuiflorum L.) is a novel attempt to explore the synergic effect of active constituents in both the herbs.

The growing demand for high value aromatic herb Polygonum minus-based products have increased in recent years, for its antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory potentials. Although few reports have indicated the chemical profiles and antioxidative effects of Polygonum minus, no study has been conducted to assess the benefits of micro-environmental manipulation (different shading levels) on the growth, leaf gas exchange and secondary metabolites in Polygonum minus. Therefore, two shading levels (50%:T2 and 70%:T3) and one absolute control (0%:T1) were studied under eight weeks and 16 weeks of exposures on Polygonum minus after two weeks. It was found that P. minus under T2 obtained the highest photosynthesis rate (14.892 µmol CO2 m−2 s−1), followed by T3 = T1. The increase in photosynthesis rate was contributed by the enhancement of the leaf pigments content (chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b). This was shown by the positive significant correlations observed between photosynthesis rate with chlorophyll a (r2 = 0.536; p ≤ 0.05) and chlorophyll b (r2 = 0.540; p ≤ 0.05). As the shading levels and time interval increased, the production of total anthocyanin content (TAC) and antioxidant properties of Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) and 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) also increased. The total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) were also significantly enhanced under T2 and T3. The current study suggested that P.minus induce the production of more leaf pigments and secondary metabolites as their special adaptation mechanism under low light condition. Although the biomass was affected under low light, the purpose of conducting the study to boost the bioactive properties in Polygonum minus has been fulfilled by 50% shading under 16 weeks’ exposure.

Essential oils (EOs) can be a large source of new food-safe and healthy nematicidal products, due to their strong activity on crop pathogens and pests, including phytoparasitic nematodes, as well as to their low environmental persistence. This review summarizes the results from our 10-year studies on chemical features and nematicidal properties of 16 EOs with different botanical origins and compositions, i.e., the EOs from Artemisia herba-alba Asso (Asteraceae), Cinnamomum camphora (L.) J. Presl. and Cinnamomum verum J. Presl. (Lauraceae), Citrus aurantium L., Cinnamomum. sinensis L. Osbeck and Ruta graveolens L. (Rutaceae), Eucalyptus citriodora Hook, Eucalyptus globulus Labill. and Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Marry et Perry (Myrtaceae), Mentha piperita L., Monarda didyma L., Monarda. fistulosa L., Rosmarinus officinalis L. and Thymus satureioides Cosson (Lamiaceae), Pelargonium asperum Ehrh ex Willd (Geraniaceae) and Schinus molle L. (Anacardiaceae). All these EOs were chemically characterized and tested in vitro and/or in vivo for their activity against the phytoparasitic species Meloidogyne incognita Kofoid et White (Chitw.), Pratylenchus vulnus Allen et Jensen and Xiphinema index Thorne et Allen. Toxicity bioassays were conducted by exposing 2nd stage juveniles (J2) of M. incognita, mixed-age specimens of P. vulnus and adult females of X. index to 2–100 μg mL−1 concentrations of EOs or EO’s major constituents for 4–96 h and checking mortality effect after a further 24–72 h permanence in water. Egg hatchability bioassays consisted in exposing (24–48 h) M. incognita egg masses to 500–1000 mg mL−1 EO solutions followed by a 5-week hatching test in water. The in vivo experiments were undertaken in sandy soil strongly infested by M. incognita and treated with different doses of EOs, applied either in water solution or by fumigation. The effects of the treatments on nematode infestation on tomato and in soil were checked at the end of each experiment. Structure-activity relationships, as suggested by the different chemical compositions of tested EOs, were also highlighted. In agreement with literature data, our studies indicated that most of the tested EOs are highly suitable for the formulation of new safe nematicides, though still retarded by the lack of efficient stabilization processes and standardized EOs’ components and extraction techniques.

<div> <p>The growing number of polluted land areas makes the question of rehabilitation and safe/effective use of these areas increasingly imperative. For land polluted by heavy metals, the possibility of transferring the toxic pollutants to humans through the food chain further increases the importance of the safe management of polluted lands.&nbsp; We examined the possibility of using heavy metal-polluted areas for growing specific aromatic plants, which can be used either as food herbs/infusions, or to produce high value products. In a pot experiment, chamomile, sage and thyme plants were exposed to a range of concentrations of Cd, Pb, and Ni in the soil. Toxic metal levels were determined in the roots, leaves and flowers (for chamomile) of the plants. All three plants accumulated relatively high amounts of metals in their roots, whereas the aboveground parts exhibited lower accumulation capacity. Regardless the levels of metal accumulation, the quality of essential oils from chamomile, sage, and thyme was not affected and in all cases the extracted essential oils were free of heavy metals. Our results suggest that the aromatic plants under study cannot be consumed either as food additives or as infusions. However, under strict control of the cultivations, heavy metal-contaminated areas can be used for the production of essential oils from aromatic plants.</p> </div> <p>&nbsp;</p>

In order to meet the growing needs of the European Union medicinal and aromatic plants, Hungary is still one of the major exporters today, although earlier, until the 1980s, we were considered a great herb-growing nation. Therefore, the development of the national medicinal and aromatic herb growing sector is an essential requirement for maintaining and developing our market position. The natural conditions of Hungary favor the cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants. There are more than 330 herbs in our country. About seventy percent of the drugs grown and harvested are exported. However, significant changes are needed in domestic sales and further processing in order to become a leading industrial sector. Hungary also possesses modern separation techniques and large instruments for analysis, which allow the proper analytical examination of drugs and the precise determination of their active substances. Our universities and research institutes are also prepared to study the active ingredients of herbs by molecular biological methods, which may allow the exact mechanism of action of bioactive substances to be determined and the herbs to be reassessed. Our accession to the European Union the palette of products made from former herbs has significantly changed. From 2013, the category of medicinal product was discontinued, and the preparations were classified as either food or medicine. However, there are significant costs associated with qualifying as a drug, so drugs or extracts are largely added to dietary supplements. As a result, the strange situation is that dietary supplements are prohibited from making any health claims, even though the dietary supplement is actually not for the benefit of a healthy population, but for those who have a health problem or do not have suitable foods, which are rich in bioactive substances. The justification of phytotherapy must be demonstrated, depending on the state of the art. In the context of safe therapy, studies must follow the requirements of medicines and only then can they become herbal medicines. There is still much to be desired in this area in our country. Classification as a drug is based on expensive animal tests and clinical studies. A new problem arises here, as herbal cure is currently part of the arsenal of complementary medicine. With few exceptions, clinical doctors do not use herbal therapies. Patients usually ask the advice of pharmacists, naturalists, and more rarely, dietitians. At the Arteriosclerosis Research Group, at the II. Department of Medicine and Institute of Pharmacognosy several decades of biomedical research have served and serve the purpose of evaluating and reassessing the effects of plants used in folk medicine. Over the years, we have been searching for drugs, extracts, and medicines of natural origin that are useful in liver and intestinal diseases known in folk medicine, and are believed to have lipid lowering, antioxidant and immune stimulating effects. In the article, animal and human studies will be also presented.

The wellbeing and sustenance of food amid its preparation, transport and storage are requirements for present day food handling. Essential oils (EOs) are important aromatic components of herbs and spices and their biological activities have been known and utilized since ancient times in perfumery, food preservation, flavoring, and medicine. The antimicrobial activities of essential oils clearly indicates that, they are more acceptable because of their unique antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties. This review paper focuses on essential oils and their applications by employing essential oils as a natural preservative that are suitable to be used in food preservation, pharmaceutical, cosmetics and among other industries. So far as factors which are responsible for food spoilage and other health related problems are still in existence, there is the need to develop sustained preservation and public health relief techniques. The recent advances in the application and alternative means of fruits and food decay, especially natural products as preservatives for fruits, essential oils as a drug as well as their antimicrobial scavenging characteristics will be reviewed. Other applications in the food, cosmetic and pharmacological industries, will also be conferred.

In this investigation plant oil and powder of E. aromatica were evaluated under laboratory conditions to determine their toxicity, fumigant effect and impact on F1 progeny of S. oryzae and T. castaneum adults. Essential oil and powder of flower buds obtained from Eugenia aromatica were purified and analyzed by Gas-Chromatography–Mass Spectrometer (GC-MC). The results obtained showed that the two products of E. aromatica had good disorders on the all tested parameters. For toxicity and fumigant effect the oil was the premier compared to powder. In addition, that the two products completely prevented the F1 emergence of the two insects. In respect of the toxicity and fumigation the T. castaneum was more tolerant than S. oryzae adults. Phytochemical analysis showed that euegnol (89.62%) was the premier component of essential oil, while euegnol (78.66%), caryophyllene (6.30%), -a-Terpinyl acetate (1.35%) were the major components for its powder. These findings suggest application of E. aromatica products as suitable tools as a potential source of insecticides, alternative to synthetic insecticides or using these products in integrated pest management program against stored product insects, especially S. oryzae or T. castaneum adults.

Pulicaria incisa (Lam) is a wild-growing plant in Morocco and has been traditionally used by farmers to control pests of stored grains. The present study was conducted to investigate the chemical composition and insecticidal effect of the essential oil of P. incisa against Sitophilus oryzae (L.) and Tribolium castaneum (Herbst.) by different methods (contact, fumigation and ingestion). The aerial parts of the plant were subjected to hydrodistillation using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The essential oil composition was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and mass spectrophotometry (MS). Sixty-six compounds representing 89.4% of total oil were identified. The main components were α-Ocimene (15.17%), τ-Cadinol (6.79%), α-Cadinol (4.51%), Alloaromadendrene (4.45%) δ-Cadinene, (+) - (4.13%). The repellant toxicity test results revealed a higher repellency effect in S. oryzae than T. castaneum. Lethal concentration (LC50), varied between 15.49 - 1.73 μL/cm2 and 20.89 - 2.29 μL/cm2 respectively. In the fumigation test, adults of S. oryzae and T. castaneum were sensitive to the essential oil with LC50 values varying between 16.21 - 2.08 and 18.62 - 2.51 μL/L air. In addition, experiments have shown that the ingestion method is the most toxic towards both insects with LC50 values of the order of 12.59 - 1.51 μL/g for S. oryzae and 14.12 - 2.39 μL/g for T. castaneum. While the lethal time (LT50) values decreased with increasing essential oil concentration, and in all cases, the increased susceptibility of both insects was directly associated with oil concentration and exposure time. This study aims to valorize medicinal and aromatic plants of the Moroccan flora in order to find novel bio-insecticidal products. Furthermore, the study reports for the first time the insecticidal activity of P. incisa against adults S. oryzae and T. castaneum.

Introduction This paper is based upon an investigation into the life of a street market in the city of Ha Noi in Vietnam, and experience of the street food served on Ha Noi’s pavements. It draws upon interviews with itinerant food vendors conducted by the researchers and upon accounts of their daily lives from a Vietnamese film subtitled in English and French, sourced from the Vietnamese Women’s Museum (Jensen). The research considers the lives of the people making and selling street food against the distilled versions of cultural experience accessible through the pages of two recent English language cookbooks focussing upon this cuisine. The data from the fieldwork is used as a point for critical comparison (Fram) with recipes and descriptions from Hanoi Street Food (Vandenberghe and Thys) and Vietnamese Street Food (Lister and Pohl), two recent relevant English language cookbooks. The research question addressed is “How are the everyday lives of Vietnamese street market cooks (mis)represented in cookery-related books published for an English-language readership?” The research team comprises an Australian Cultural Studies academic (Lelia Green) and a bi-lingual Vietnamese researcher (Nguyen Hong Van), who is Ha Noi born and bred, but who has lived overseas and whose first degree, in Sociology, is from a Canadian university. In each other’s company and over a period of some weeks, Lelia and Van spent more than 40 hours on ethnographic fieldwork in street markets, and interviewing street vendors. The purpose of the research was exploratory, but it was also undertaken as a means of making the labour and lives of marginalised women more visible, since most itinerant food vendors in Vietnam are women (Jensen). As Bhomik notes, male vendors “are engaged in motor cycle repair or sale of higher priced goods such as personal products, souvenirs etc. and their earnings are higher” (2261). Although the teamwork between Lelia and Van went some way to resolve the challenges posed by insider/outsider qualitative research (Corbin, Dwyer, and Buckle), Van has never lived or worked as a street vendor. First Take an Informal Street Market … Eating on the Street An informal Vietnamese street market is a multi-layered space, ordered according to the geography of the area in which the food is prepared and consumed. The informality of a street market indicates its status between legitimacy and repression. Informal street markets spring up in locales where there is significant demand—usually office workers nearby, and schools. The food they sell is cheap and flavourful, catering for the needs of people who have little time or money and want something hot and nourishing to start, punctuate, or end the day. As markets grow, so the vendors in the market constitute a secondary population in need of sustenance. Itinerant street vendors carry with them everything they need for their day’s work. Typically this includes a little oil or coal-based stove, their raw ingredients, dishes or trays for food preparation and serving, often a bowl for washing food or utensils, and a large bag to carry the dirty dishes used by their customers. Often these tools of their trade will be carried in two baskets balanced upon a pole that acts as a yoke across the vendor’s neck. Sometimes well-resourced vendors will also carry, (or push a bicycle or cart with), sets of small plastic stools and tables, so that their clients can sit and enjoy their food. In the semi-tropical climate of Ha Noi, carrying the raw materials to cook for and feed dozens of patrons is a tiring and difficult business. These street vendors’s lives are made more complex by the semi-legitimacy of the informal street market where itinerants are viewed as potential sources of income by a series of officials who extort small but frequent payments in the form of demanding bribes, or levying fines for illegal activity such as obstructing the pavement (Lincoln). Trung, who sells crab noodles, says the police are the most difficult aspect of her job: “they can come anytime and confiscate all my stuff and give me a fine. One time I was so panicked when I saw them approaching on a small truck that I took all my bowls and ran. The bowl slipped out of my hands and cut into my leg. I still have a deep scar from that accident” (Trung). Now add a smattering of street vendors. Bánh Mỳ: Bread Rolls “1 French baguette”, states the Vandenberghe and Thys recipe for bánh mỳ, implicitly acknowledging the hundred years of French colonisation which provides Vietnam with its excellent breads and pastries, “beat the eggs lightly in a mixing bowl, crumble the paté and combine the paté and the lightly beaten eggs. Put the oil in a small frying pan and cook the omelette […] fold the omelette double and put it on the [grilled, heated] bread […] the variations are endless” (71). The young Vietnamese woman, Anh, sells bánh mỳ trứng ngải cứu, bread rolls with egg cooked with mugwort, an aromatic leafy herb. She explains her initial motivation to sell food on the street: “some women in my village already came to the city to sell. I can’t earn much money at home and I need money to send my children to school, so I decided to follow them” (Anh). She shares rented accommodation in the city with other women—sometimes up to ten people in a room (Jensen)—and starts her day at 4.30am, washing vegetables and preparing her baskets. Although a street trader herself, she is networked into a complex set of supply and delivery connections. Her eggs and bread are delivered fresh each morning and she buys the mugwort from a market near her lodgings. “I leave home around 6am and start walking along the streets. […] I mostly sell to shop keepers. They have to stay in their shop so I bring breakfast to them. I walk through a lot of streets, whenever someone calls out I will stop and make bread for them” (Anh). Mid-morning, at around 10am, Anh goes back to her home to have lunch and prepare for the afternoon, with a fresh delivery of eggs around 1.00-1.30pm. Usually, she leaves again around 2.00pm “but if it’s too hot outside, I will stay until 3pm, because it is very tiring to walk in the heat, and people don’t eat that early either. I go home whenever I sell out […], sometimes as early as 4pm, or as late as 7pm” (Anh). Like many street vendors, Anh has sought out points of contact with the local community to punctuate her walking with episodes of rest. Her customers are mainly other Vietnamese people, “shop keepers and residents of the streets I walk along every day. There is an old lady. I sit in front of her shop every afternoon from 3pm to 5pm. She eats one egg every day” (Anh). Anh has been selling Bánh mỳ on the streets for three years, but this is not her only source of income: “At home I grow rice, but I can only harvest it at the end of the season. It only takes a storm or hail to destroy the whole effort I spend for months […] This [food] is very easy to make, and I make a little profit everyday” (Anh). She has never worked from a recipe book: “I think only people in hotels, like a big chef who makes complicated dishes need recipes, this one is very easy, just a common everyday food” (Anh). As for the problems posed by the policing of informal markets, Anh says: “if I am not careful, the ward police will give me a fine for selling on the street.” Such a calamity can write off the profit of many hours’ or days’ work. Xôi: Sticky Rice Xôi is a popular street food dish, and Lister and Pohl provide two recipes, one for xôi lạc (sticky rice with peanuts)(68), and one for xôi xéo (sticky rice with turmeric and mung beans, and fried shallots) (80). Nga, the xôi seller interviewed for this research, sells both types of sticky rice along with xôi gậc (a festive red sticky rice cooked with and coloured by spiny bitter gourd, and typically eaten at Tết, the celebration for the Lunar New Year) and xôi đỗ đen, sticky rice with black bean. She used to specialise in only one kind of sticky rice but, as she says, “business was slow so I added other types of sticky rice. I sit here in the morning everyday anyway, so I sell different types, a small quantity for each” (Nga). The biggest complication for street vendors selling sticky rice is the requirement that it is still being steamed just before being sold, so that it is hot, soft, and sticky, and not dried out. The cooked sticky rice is usually packed in banana leaves under a plastic cover and put in a bamboo basket. The basket helps with ventilation while banana leaves keep the rice moist and the plastic cover keeps in heat. Traditionally, xôi is also sold in banana leaves. Nga uses first a layer of banana leaf, then one of plastic, and finally newspaper. Nga is a grandmother and constructs her street vending as a retirement job, which puts food on the table for her husband and herself. In Vietnam, there is a tradition that the younger generations look after their elders, but her work as a street vendor means that Nga and her husband can retain their autonomy and help their own family, for longer. Nga starts cooking at 4.00am, but her street food is only one element of her income: “In addition to selling here, I also deliver to restaurants. Actually most of my income comes from them. I deliver at around 5 to 5.30am, and start selling here at 6” (Nga). Both of Lister and Pohl’s recipes start with soaking the sticky rice overnight in water, just as Nga does. She says, “I wash the rice and soak them before I go to bed the night before. I get up, start the stove which uses black coal. I sell out all the rice everyday, otherwise it won’t taste good […] usually I sell out at 8 or 8.30am, 9am at the latest. I don’t work in the afternoon. I pick up my grandchildren at 4pm and take care of them until the end of the day.” Nga has strong views about the place of recipes in cooking, especially in cooking as a business: I don’t need to learn from a book. Written recipes or informal teaching from relatives is the same, they are just the starting point. What matters is you learn from your own experience. For example, you soak your rice for 6 hours today, but your customers complain that the rice is not soft, so you soak it for 8 hours next time. Or maybe you sell to a poorer community, you will adjust your ingredients to cheaper type, so you can reduce your price but still make profit; but if you sell in a richer neighbourhood, you make sure you have good quality, even with higher price, or else they will not buy from you (Nga). Lister and Pohl dedicate a two-page spread (70-1) to Ðặng Thị Sáu and her Xôi shopfront stall, noting that she learned her business from her mother-in-law who was “an itinerant sticky rice peddler for most of her life, walking the city streets, selling from bamboo baskets. It was a hard and uncertain life and not one Sáu wanted to follow” (70). Sáu’s compromise, ultimately, was to sell sticky rice from the comparative security and stability of a fixed location. Lister and Pohl’s focus upon Sáu and her food, along with the pictures of everyday life featured in Vietnamese Street Food, mean that this is more than an inspirational cookbook. It is a vivid introduction to the vernacular foodways of Vietnam “a set of social, economic and cultural practices around the production and consumption of food that are normatively distinctive to an ethnocultural group” (Jonas 119). Bún Riêu Cua: Crab Meat Noodle Crab meat noodle is a complicated recipe and a reminder that many people who eat street food do so because these are favourite Vietnamese dishes which may require considerable effort to prepare. The specialisation of street food vendors, making a complicated dish for the relish of dozens of customers, allows busy Vietnamese workers to enjoy their authentic cuisine at an affordable cost without the time constraints of buying multiple ingredients and making the dish themselves. The recipe in Hanoi Street Food involves several steps: preparation of the sauce using sautéing, frying and reducing (Jones); cooking of the crab in boiling water (not including separately bought crabmeat used in the sauce); creation of a chicken stock, to which the sauce is added; along with the washing and chopping a range of vegetables including soya bean sprouts, spring onions, lettuce, fresh herbs, lime etc., some of which is used as garnish (Vandenberghe, and Thys 90). Trung and her husband have been selling their bún riêu cua for five years. For nine years prior to working as a street food vendor, Trung was a recyclables collector. She began working in the city when she “followed a cousin to Ha Noi so I could earn money to support my family of six people. At first I collected materials such as plastic bottles, metal, papers, etc, but because I carried too much on my shoulders, I developed severe back pain and shoulder pain” (Trung). Now she and her husband use a bicycle to help carry the various necessities for her bún riêu cua street stall, using the vehicle to reduce some of the physical burden of the work. Trung learned how to make bún riêu cua from an aunt in Hai Phong, “I just observed her and other people”. The dish remains time consuming, however:I get up at 3am to start preparing the crab and cook the soup. My husband washes vegetables. It often takes us about 2 hours. By 5am, we leave the house, and we are here by 5.30, ready to sell breakfast […] I am most busy during lunchtime, from 10am to 1-2pm. Breakfast time can last from 6am to 9am. When I am not selling to customers I often get tired and easily fall asleep because I always crave sleep. In between, my husband and I wash dishes. He also delivers to people too. We get lots of phone calls from patients of the hospitals nearby. They say my food is more delicious than food in the hospital’s canteen […] Usually I go home around 4pm in the summer and 5 to 6pm in the winter. But I also stop by different shops to buy ingredients for the next day on my way home. Once I get home, I wash the bowls, re-supply and re-arrange my stuffs, and do some preparation. I work until I go to bed at 9pm (Trung). The illustration for this recipe in Hanoi Street Food is not of the dish itself, but of young Vietnamese men enjoying the dish. As is the case with Lister and Pohl, Vandenberghe and Thys’s book is about more than recipes, it is a rich evocation of daily life on the streets of Vietnam. Serve with a Side-dish of Conclusions Authentic street food is cooked, sold and consumed on the street. However, street food cookbooks tend to recommended shopfront eateries, partly because they are easier to find, and are more convenient, in that neither the tourist nor the vendor is at risk of police intervention. Another reason for featuring the more established vendors with their own premises concerns food hygiene: In 1989 the Vietnamese government adopted a law on the protection of people’s health. A survey on food samples in Hanoi showed that 47 per cent were microbiologically unsafe. [This has now changed.] The government has adopted two practices for ensuring safer street food, namely, monitoring street food vendors through a licensing system, and educating and training them on hygiene (Bhowmik 2260). Such licensing, training and the maintenance of hygiene standards are more difficult to police with itinerant food vendors. In the two cookbooks featured, ingredients tend to be measured as to specific amounts, with the idea that the result should be predictable. Street vendors, however, learn to cook their signature dishes from friends, relatives, and experience. They do not measure their ingredients while cooking, and their products vary from one vendor to another, and also to some extent from day to day, even given the same cook. This creates a special characteristic of street food and means that regular customers gravitate to particular vendors whose choice of seasoning and cooking techniques culminates in the most attractive results according to their personal taste. While there are lots of stalls captioned as bánh mỳ, regular customers will find that there are significant differences between stalls. One reason for this is offered in Lister and Pohl: small quantities of special ingredients that are difficult to get in Vietnam and impossible elsewhere. The cook in a featured Bánh cuốn stall (selling rice pancakes) adds a drop of giant water bug juice to season her dipping broth: “ ‘It’s the real thing! One drop off the top of a chopstick is enough’ she explains” (Lister, and Pohl 33). As is clear from the interviews with vendors, itinerant sellers of street food don’t use recipe books, and have generally learned how to cook their dishes through women’s networks of family and friends. The two cookbooks discussed are designed for consumption by people who engage in or aspire to “food and drink tourism” (Boniface vii) in Vietnam, whether the readers have visited in person or become aware of the cuisine through popular culture, such as Luke Nguyen’s SBS cooking shows (Nguyen). They are as much coffee table books as collections of recipes, and are written by westerners for a western readership. The recipes focus on ingredients that can be sourced in everyday western contexts but the beautiful and evocative photographs of daily life in Vietnam, supplemented by written commentary on people and place, clearly locate the recipes in their Vietnamese cultural context. Culinary tourism allows people unfamiliar with a cuisine and culture to use “food to explore new cultures and ways of being” (Long 21). Street food vendors are part of many communities. They require knowledge, skill, and personal networks to acquire the quality ingredients at the best possible price for the daily routine of food preparation and selling. Whereas recipe books deal with domestic-scale food production, a vendor may cook for a hundred or more people in a single day. Many itinerant street food sellers work in the city to support absent husbands and children in rural locations, taking money home on a regular basis ($20 profit a fortnight makes their labour worthwhile), and spending 10 days in 14 on the streets (Jensen). As women help each other to begin a career as a vendor through oral teaching, observation, and first-hand experience, they do away with the invisible, authoritative voice of cookbooks. Itinerant food sellers are also a part of the larger communities in which they work, including customers, their suppliers, and other actors such as the authorities and the media. This larger community sets the tone for their food, and their lives. The vast majority of vendors of street food are women, prepared to work hard and with passion and pride to make enough money to make a difference to their families. Books about street food might help recreate some of the dishes that can be bought on the streets of Vietnam. After participating in street life, however, as an observer or customer, it becomes clear that recipe cookbooks intended for English readers only capture part of the complexity and beauty of street food, and the lives of those who make it. References Anh. Personal communication. Trans. Nguyen Hong Van. 2013. Boniface, Priscilla. Tasting Tourism: Travelling for Food and Drink. Aldershot: Ashgate, 2003. 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