Spice and herb, parts of various plants cultivated for their aromatic, pungent, or otherwise desirable

substances. Spices and herbs consist of rhizomes, bulbs, barks, flower buds, stigmas, fruits, seeds,
and leaves. They are commonly divided into the categories of spices, spice seeds, and herbs. See also list
of herbs and spices.

Spice seeds are the tiny aromatic fruits and oil-bearing seeds of herbaceous plants such
as anise, caraway, cumin, fennel, poppy, and sesame. Herbs are the fresh or dried aromatic leaves of
such plants as marjoram, mint, rosemary, bay leaf, parsley, and thyme. Spices, spice seeds, and herbs
are employed as adjuncts to impart flavour and aroma or piquancy to foods. In the small quantities used
to prepare culinary dishes, they have little nutritional value, but they stimulate the appetite, add zest to
food, and enhance flavours.

Spices are usually used dried, though some, such as chili peppers and ginger, are used in both their fresh
and dried forms. Some typically dried spices are used in their fresh form in the countries that produce
them. Many of the world’s highly prized spices—such as cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger,
and pepper—are fragrant or pungent plant products cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions.

The most notable uses of spices and herbs in very early times were in medicine, in the making of holy
oils and unguents, and as aphrodisiacs. Priests employed them in worship, incantations, and rituals, and
shamans used them as charms to ward off evil spirits. Aromatic herbs were used to clean and add
fragrance to the home. Ancient herbals (manuals for identifying plants and preparing medicinal
remedies) from Cathay (northern China), Sumer, Assyria, Egypt, Greece, and Rome testify to the use of
spices and herbs in the treatment of disease. Hippocrates, Galen, and Pedanius Dioscorides, among
others, employed them. In the 1st century of the Christian era, Pliny the Elder, in his Natural History,
extolled at length the efficacy and healing powers of spices and herbs in the treatment of nearly every
ailment known in his day. Those virtues, tempered and moderated, were accepted through the Middle
Ages and into early modern times.

Fenugreek

Herb

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Alternate titles: Trigonella foenum-graecum, foenugreek

Written and fact-checked

Graecum), also spelled foenugreek, fragrant herb of the pea family (Fabaceae) and its dried flavourful
seeds used as a spice. Native to southern Europe and the Mediterranean region, fenugreek
is cultivated in central and southeastern Europe, western Asia, India, and northern Africa. See also list of
herbs and spices.