Naturally Isolated Compounds from Spices and Herbs and their Medicinal Uses

Spices and herbs have a long history of medicinal uses. They include turmeric, basil, mace, cinnamon, ginger, etc. [1]. Ginseng and Ginkgo biloba are reportedly used to improve stamina and cognitive performance. Spices are used in all the countries for different purposes, such as in cooking and medicines, etc. Spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for coloring, flavoring, and preserving food. Herbs are the leaves, flowers, stems from plants used for flavoring or as garnishing. Medicinal and aromatic plants have also been used therapeutically to improve the health and wellbeing of animals; most were used for prophylactic purposes and to improve the growth rate and feed conversion ratio efficiency [2, 3]. The alternatives to antibiotics as growth stimulators from the group of prebiotics, probiotics, organic acids, essential oils, medicinal plants, or parts of plants, such as thyme, basil, oregano, pepper and plenty of others, are numerous [2]. This chapter includes a wide variety of isolated compounds, such as phenolic compounds and flavanoids present in spices, which are now experimentally documented to possess antioxidant, antiinflammatory, antimutagenic and anticarcinogenic activities. It also includes a list of spices compounds that are experimentally evidenced to control cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cataract, cancer, etc.