Орегано

The plant

Oregano is a woody perennial plant, growing up to 90 cm (35 in) tall. It is native to the Mediterranean region but widely naturalised elsewhere in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, particularly the United States and Mexico. Young stems are typically square and hairy and become woody with age. The flowers can be white, pink or light purple and are produced in clustered, erect spikes in summer. Oregano is used as a culinary herb, as is its close relative sweet marjoram (O. majorana). Many subspecies and strains of oregano have been developed by humans over centuries for their unique flavours or other characteristics. The common name oregano is given to more than 60 plant species of the Lamiaceae family and to members of other families, such as Verbenaceae. Lippia graveolens, called Mexican oregano, belongs to the verbena family.

Chemistry

The relative concentration of each compound in the oil varies widely across geographic origin and other factors. Over 60 different compounds have been identified in the oil, the primary ones being carvacrol and thymol, ranging to over 80%. Less abundant compounds include p-cymene, γ-terpinene, caryophyllene, spathulenol, germacrene D, β-fenchyl alcohol and δ-terpineol. Carvacrol is a monoterpenoid phenol. Thymol is a phenol derivative of p-cymene, isomeric with carvacrol. Greek oregano, the subspecies hirtum of Origanum vulgare, accumulates mainly the phenolic monoterpenes thymol and carvacrol, followed by their precursors p-cymene and γ-terpinene. In Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum grown wild in Greece, carvacrol and thymol together account for 55-94% of the total oil content, as measured by direct GC-MS injection. In a study of 32 oils distilled from Greek oregano, carvacrol made up between 61.30% and 80.53% of the volatile fraction, averaging 71.67%. In the same oils thymol was present in a range of 0.98-2.33%, averaging 2.00%. In Origanum vulgare subsp. virens grown in Portugal, the putative chemotypes are carvacrol, thymol and linalool. In plants with a lower oil yield, the main constituents comprise acyclic compounds, mostly linalool, β-ocimene or β-myrcene. Marjoram from Turkey, a closely related plant, differs significantly in taste because phenolic compounds are missing from its essential oil.

History

Oregano appears in the earliest written traces of Greek medicine, the writings attributed to Hippocrates, with more than forty indications. According to mythology, the goddess Aphrodite created origanon on Mount Olympus as a symbol of well-being and joy. Crowning newlyweds with oregano is an ancient tradition, still occasionally alive nowadays.

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