Organic Bay Leaves Bayleaf Spice and Herbs, Certified USDA, Bay Leaves Bayleaf Blends, Bay Leaves Bayleaf Powder, Bay Leaves Bayleaf Mix, Bay Leaves Bayleaf Seasoning

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Bay Leaf Spices: Bay leaves are used as flavouring in soups, stews, meat, fish, sauces and in confectionaries. Both leaves and fruits possess aromatic, stimulant and narcotic properties. The essential oil from the leaves are also used as spice and food flavouring agent. Bay leaves are a fixture in the cooking of many European cuisines (particularly those of the Mediterranean), as well as in North America. They are used in soups, stews, meat, seafood and vegetable dishes. The leaves also flavor many classic French dishes. The leaves are most often used whole (sometimes in a bouquet garni) and removed before serving. In Indian (Sanskrt name Tamaalpatra, Hindi Tezpatta) and Pakistani cuisine bay leaves are often used in biryani, other rich spicy dishes - although not as an everyday ingredient in home cuisine - and as an ingredient in garam masala.

Bay Leaf Health: The major functional properties are anti-microbial, anti-fungal, hypoglycaemic, anti-ulcerogenic etc. It is widely used in pharmaceutical preparations because of its hypoglycemic, stimulant and carminative properties. It is also used in Indian system of traditional medicines Ayurveda. They were once used to keep moths away, owing to the leaf's lauric acid content that gives it insecticidal properties. Bay leaves have many properties that make them useful for treating high blood sugar, migraine headaches, bacterial and fungal infections, and gastric ulcers. Bay leaves and berries have been used for their astringent, carminative, diaphoretic, digestive, diuretic, emetic and stomachic properties. Bay leaf has been used as an herbal remedy for headaches. It contains compounds called parthenolides, which have proven useful in the treatment of migraines.

Description
Bay Leaf or Laurel Leaf are dried leaves or an evergreen shrub or more rarely a tree attaining a height of 15 to 20 mtrs. The upper surface of the leaf is glabrous and shiny, olive green, and lower surface is dull olive to brown with a prominent rib and veins. The aroma of the crushed leaves is delicate & fragrant and taste is aromatic and bitter. The size of the leaves is ranging from 2.5 to 7.5 cms in length and 1.6 to 2.5 cms in breadth. The shape is elliptical and tapering to a point at the base and tip of the leaves.

Fresh bay leaves are very strongly aromatic, but also quite bitter; by an appropriate drying procedure, bitterness is significantly reduced, and the flavour can even improve . After manual plucking and sorting, the leaves are quickly dried without exposure to sunlight. High-quality bay leaves are easily recognized not only by their strong aroma, but also by their bright green colour. A rule of thumb holds: The greener the colour, the better the quality. Bay leaves cannot, however, be stored as long as their tough texture might suggest, but should not be kept more than one year after plucking. Overaged leaves have lost their fragrance, show a brownish hue and taste mostly bitter.

Origin and Distribution
It is a native of Mediterranean and grow widely in scrub land woods in Europe and California. It widely cultivated in Europe, America and Arabian countries. It is not cultivated as a commercial crop in India.

USES

Bay leaves are used as flavouring in soups, stews, meat, fish, sauces and in confectionaries. Both leaves and fruits possess aromatic, stimulant and narcotic properties. The essential oil from the leaves are also used as spice and food flavouring agent and has wider application in traditional medicines of different countries. The major functional properties are anti-microbial, anti-fungal, hypoglycaemic, anti-ulcerogenic etc.

Botanical name	Family name	Commercial part
Laurus nobilis L.	Lauraceae	Leaf

Name in international languages

Spanish	: Laurel
French	: Laurier
German	: Lorbeer
Swedish	: Lager
Arabic	: Ghar
Dutch	: Laurier
Italian	: Alloro
Portuguese	: Loureiro
Russian	: Laur
Japanese	: Gekkeiju
Chinese	: Yuch-kuei
Further Reading: Sensory quality: Aromatic and slightly bitter Main constituents: The essential oil from the leaves (0.8 to 3%) contains mostly 1,8 cineol (50%); furthermore, eugenol, acetyl eugenol, methyl eugenol, a- and ß-pinene, phellandrene, linalool, geraniol and terpineol are found. The dried fruits contain 0.6 to 10% of essential oil, depending on provenance and storage conditions. Like the leaves, the aroma is mostly due to terpenes (cineol, terpineol, a- and ß-pinene, citral), but also cinnamic acid and its methyl ester are reported. Bay leaves are a rather common flavouring in all Western countries; they are used for soups, stews, sauces, pickles and sausages; several fish dishes profit greatly from bay leaves. In contrast to the majority of leave spices, bay leaves can be cooked for prolonged time without much loss of aroma. Fresh or dried bay leaves frequently show up in bouquet garni. The noble bay leaf has a history like no other herb. Legend and myth surrounded it even before the champions of the first Olympic Games, in 776 B.C, were crowned with garlands of the glossy green leaf. Ancient mythology tells us that the sun god Apollo pursued the uninterested nymph Daphne. Apollo was relentless until the gods granted her mercy by turning her into a laurel, or bay, tree. The Greeks still refer to the tree as a Daphne.