[Sca-cooks] Re:Chicken for feast (Hyssop)

[Darren Gasser]

jenne at fiedlerfamily.net wrote:

> Amounts of essential oil that are safe don't always translate into
> amounts of herb that are safe. Essential oil of sage, for instance,
> contains unacceptably large amounts of thujone and shouldn't be used
> with other people. (My feeling is that if I choose to use it myself,
> that's my look-out.) However, eating food with sage in it is pretty
> safe.
>
> Check the Physician's Desk Reference for Herbal Medicine to find out
> what the toxicology data is for the herb itself.

Excellent points.  I'll try and hit up our pharmacology researchers later
today for their Herbal PDR and check for sure, but the information I have at
hand does indicate that the toxicity studies of hyssop were all done on the
essential oil and may not apply to the fresh or dried herb.

>> Rue and Bergamot are likewise substances that should be treated
>> carefully as they can be toxic in fairly small amounts.
>
> Do you mean oil of bergamot fruit, or oil of Monarda Didyma?

I was referring to Citrus Bergamia (Citrus Aurantium), not beebalm.  Isn't
Monarda strictly a New World plant?

-Lorenz