[Sca-cooks] Research on Herb uses

[Sharon Gordon]

Here is some information about some newly investigated functions of some
period herbs.
I think both oregano and thyme were used in anti-septic, anti-fungal ways in
period, but I don't have any period herb books from the library at the
moment to check.

Sharon
gordonse at one.net

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STORY LEAD:
Kitchen Meets Farm in Fight Against Late Blight
___________________________________________

ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
Erin Peabody, (301) 504-1624, ekpeabody at ars.usda.gov
March 13, 2006
--View this report online, plus any included photos or other images, at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr
___________________________________________

Fine chefs may wince, but scientists with the Agricultural Research Service
(ARS) are reaching into the cupboard and finding unconventional uses for
such culinary classics as oregano and thyme, testing the herbs' potency in a
messy battle out on the farm.

ARS plant pathologist Modesto Olanya and colleagues are investigating plant
essential oils--including oregano, thyme and lavender--and other
biologically based approaches to control one of the most devastating potato
diseases worldwide: late blight. Potato plants infected with the fungal
spoiler, called Phytophthora infestans, may be rapidly defoliated and
destroyed.

The fungal disease, blamed for the Irish potato famine of the 1840s, is a
formidable disease to fend off. It quickly gains resistance to widely used
systemic fungicides, requiring researchers to constantly search for new ways
to protect America's favorite vegetable from the fungal threat.

Olanya, who works at ARS' New England Plant, Soil and Water Research
Laboratory in Orono, Me., has found that among the essential oils, oregano
is showing the greatest promise as a late blight suppressor. In laboratory
tests, the Maine researchers found that oregano and other essential oils
greatly inhibited the growth of P. infestans fungi. However, oregano was
less effective in suppressing late blight in growth chamber studies than in
the laboratory.

If future studies continue to show promise, natural remedies such as
essential oils  could someday reduce a portion of the many fungicides used
to prevent late blight from taking root in U.S. potato fields each year. To
increase their efficacy, Olanya is looking at pairing essential oils with
other natural products, such as beneficial microorganisms.

The essential oils do have some limitations to overcome. According to
Olanya, oregano is fairly volatile, meaning some of its fungi-fighting
essence could evaporate from plant surfaces after it's been applied.
Conversely, the oils can burn plant leaves if applied too generously.

ARS is the chief scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture.
___________________________________________

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