Savory (known as chubritsa) is one of the most traditional Bulgarian spices. It is used as the base for many of the traditional Bulgarian spice mixes. It can be safely called the most popular spice in the Bulgarian cuisine, or at least one of the most popular. But the use of savory is not limited to its culinary merits. On a Bulgarian kitchen or restaurant table you will find three condiments: salt, paprika and savory and when these are mixed it is called sharena sol or colorful salt. Because of its favorable reaction when combined with others, savory is often mixed with other herbs. It is used in vegetables, beans, lentils, bouquet garni, eggs, stuffing, condiments, hamburger, gravy, soup mixes, and in spice blends of the Mediterranean such as herbs de Provence. Summer savory is also used in sausage making. Savory has an antispasmodic, hypotensive, antiseptic, catastrophic and poorly diuretic action. It is used in high blood pressure, palpitations, headaches, dizziness, as a cataract and diuretic, in rat and cough, etc. In Bulgarian folk medicine, savory is used in vomiting, catarrh on the lining of stomach and intestines, summer diarrhea, worms.
The following thesis was carried out to analyze the bioactive components of the herbal Satureja hortensis, to compare different samples of the Satureja hortensis plant from different producers and natural habitats from Bulgaria and Greece. Data on phytochemical profiles and bioactivity of ethanol extracts are presented. On that base the conclusions and recommendations for further application of Saturea hortensis in foods are outlined.
Τεχνολογικό Εκπαιδευτικό Ίδρυμα (ΤΕΙ) Δυτικής Μακεδονίας
