| Culantro | |
|---|---|
| Eryngium foetidum leaves | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | Apiales |
| Family: | Apiaceae |
| Genus: | Eryngium |
| Species: | E. foetidum |
| Binomial name | |
| Eryngium foetidum L. |
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Eryngium foetidum is a tropical perennial and annual herb in the family Apiaceae. It is native to Mexico and South America but is cultivated worldwide. In the United States, where it is not well known, the name culantro sometimes causes confusion with Coriandrum sativum (also in Apiaceae), the leaves of which are known as cilantro, and which culantro is said to taste like.[1]
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In English-speaking Caribbean Countries Eryngium foetidum is also referred to as shadon, shado beni (or shadow benny), or bandhania. Other English common names include: Recao (Puerto Rico), cilantro ancho (Dominican Republic), long, wild, or Mexican coriander, fitweed, spiritweed, duck-tongue herb, sawtooth or saw-leaf herb, sawtooth coriander.
E. foetidum is widely used in seasoning and marinating in the Caribbean, particularly in Trinidad and Tobago. It is also used extensively in Thailand, India, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia as a culinary herb. This variety of coriander dries well, retaining good color and flavor, making it valuable in the dried herb industry. It is sometimes used as a substitute for cilantro, but it has a much stronger taste.
In the United States, Eryngium foetidum grows naturally in Florida, Georgia, Hawai'i, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.[2] It is sold in grocery stores as a culinary herb under the common names; "culantro" (pronounced /kuːˈlɑːntroʊ/) and/or "recao" (pronounced |re:`kow|).
Ethnomedicinal uses include treatment for burns, earache, fevers, hypertension, constipation, fits, asthma, stomach ache, worms, infertility complications, snake bites, diarrhea and malaria.[3] Eryngium foetidum is also known as Eryngium antihystericum.[4] The name Eryngium antihystericum reflects the fact that this plant has traditionally been used as a treatment for epilepsy.[5] The plant is said to calm a person's spirit and thus prevents epileptic fits (seizures). The plant is therefore known by the common names spiritweed and fitweed. The anticonvulsant properties of this plant have been scientifically investigated.[6] A decoction of the leaves has been shown to exhibit anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.[7]
Eryngial is a patented extract of Eryngium foetidum.[8] Dr. Ralph Robinson, a Professor of Parasitology at the University of the West Indies at Mona, Jamaica, has investigated the use of Enyngial as a treatment for human Strongyloides stercoralis infection (strongyloidiasis).[9] A fraction of the essential oil rich in eryngial is the subject of a US patent application for its effectiveness against parasitic trypanosomes, nematodes, fungi and bacteria in humans and other mammals.[10]
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