Insight into a traditional culinary practice: Late-stage addition of spiny coriander (Eryngium foetidum L.) in Indian cooking system

Abstract

Spiny coriander (Eryngium foetidum L.) is a food flavouring herb with strong coriander-like odour. The leaves are traditionally used for flavouring the curries, boiled items, soups in Indian subcontinent and added during the final stage of cooking. The current study aimed to validate this traditional culinary knowledge on the addition of spiny coriander leaves and provide a scientific insight into this practice. To pursue the objective, fresh leaves were subjected to simulated open and close-vessel cooking conditions in Clevenger-type apparatus and pressure cooker, respectively. An extensive loss (∼43 %) in volatile flavours occurred after 30 min of open-vessel boiling and similarly for close-vessel process (∼39 %). However, the volatile composition, exclusively dominated by fatty aldehydes, especially trans-2-dodecenal (>70 %) remained practically unaltered throughout this process; rejecting the possibility of considerable transformation or degradation. Thus, boiling process during cooking promoted the loss of aromatic flavours through evaporation and justified the late-stage addition of spiny coriander to preserve its key flavours.