ne of the special spices known for their distinctive aroma, cumin seeds are popular in North African, Middle Eastern, Western Chinese, Indian, Cuban and Northern Mexican cuisines. The spice is native to middle-east Asian region, and now grown all over the world for its flavorful seeds.
The plant is the small flowering herbaceous plant belonging to the family of Apiaceae of the genus of Cuminum, and scientifically known as Cuminum cyminum.
The cumin plant flourishes well in sandy, fertile soil along with hot summer weather conditions. It bears small, gray-yellow color, oblong shaped seeds with vertical ridges on their outer surface; that closely resembles caraway seeds in appearance.
The distinctive flavor, strong and warm sense of cumin seeds on taste buds comes from a certain group of essential oils in them. The chief constituent and important aromatic compound are cuminaldehyde (4-isopropylbenzaldehyde).
Cumin seeds contain numerous phyto-chemicals that are known to have antioxidant, carminative and anti-flatulent properties. The seeds are an excellent source of dietary fiber.
Its seeds contain certain health-benefiting essential oils such as cuminaldehyde (4-isopropylbenzaldehyde), pyrazines, 2-methoxy-3-sec-butylpyrazine, 2-ethoxy-3-isopropylpyrazine, and 2-methoxy-3-methylpyrazine.
The active principles in the cumin may augment the motility of the gastro-intestinal tract as well as aids in the digestion power by increasing gut enzyme secretions.
This spice is an excellent source of minerals like iron, copper, calcium, potassium, manganese, selenium, zinc and magnesium. Copper is required in the production of red blood cells. Iron is required for red blood cell formation. Zinc is a co-factor in many enzymes that regulate growth and development, sperm generation, digestion and nucleic acid synthesis. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the powerful anti-oxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase.
The spice also contains very good amounts of B-complex vitamins such as thiamin, vitamin B-6, niacin, riboflavin, and other vital anti-oxidant vitamins like vitamin E, vitamin A and vitamin C.
The seeds are also rich source of many flavonoid phenolic anti-oxidants such as carotenoids, zeaxanthin, and lutein.
