Herb and Spice
Abstract
Herbs, originally developed in ancient south European countries, have widely been used as additives to give aroma in food, and later, many kinds of spices were imported from south Asia. Those are all made from plants. Aromatic substances, extracted and purified, contributed tremendously to organic chemistry in early 19th century along with dyestuff like indigo. In a famous scene in a novel, À la recherche du temps perdu, by a French novelist Marcel Proust, the main character was all of sudden brought back to an old memory when he sipped an aromatic herb tea. In this old memory, his aunt served him tea with the same aroma. This remarkable effect of aroma is now known as Proust effect. Aroma therapy has become popular which uses essential oils for medical use.
