Oregano

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Origanum vulgare ssp. hirtum (Origanum heracleoticum)

Oregano is a hardy perennial herb growing in many countries (Europe, Africa, North and South America). Members of the genus Origanum (Labiatae family) are characterized of a unique flavour due to the essential oils they contain. As various researches have demonstrated, the best quality of oregano, with high concentration of essential oils, is found in the Mediterranean region and especially at the coach of Minor Asia (Turkey) and in Greece (continental and islands).

A treasurable herb from the past

Apart from flavour, oregano has unique properties which were well known from the ancient times. The Mediterranean people used oregano as a preservative of the meat. A wide description of oregano and its uses can be found in the book "plant history" of Theophrastos (372-287 b.c.) and in the "Medicine material" of Dioscouridis the Anazarveas (1st century b.c.).

Hippocrates (5th century b.c.), the father of Medicine, used oregano for curing various diseases, as stomach pain, respiratory diseases, etc.

Paracelsus (1493-1541 a.c.), the father of Hermitic Medicine, used it for the medication of diarrhoeal problems, psoriasis, fungal diseases etc.

Finally, recent in vitro studies have shown that the essential oils of oregano has certain antifungal, insecticidal and antimicrobial activities.

Cultivation of oregano

Under the name "oregano" there are perhaps as many as 40 different species, most of which are not rich in essential oil, smell and flavour. Also the "oregano" used in food is often not actually oregano, it is marjoram!

In our own multiplier fields we grow the prototype plants (multipliers - figure A), which afterwards are installed in the collaborating fields (figure B). The herb grows on dry, sunny and rocky soils with lower fertility, containing preferably a considerable quantity of lime. As a perennial plant, it remains in the same soil for 4-7 years. After that time the plantation should be renewed. Oregano can be planted in autumn and spring.

The oregano cultures are being inspected by our agriculture experts continuously during the year (figure C). By the end of June-mid of July only the best quality of the mature yield is selected for harvest (figure D) and transferred to our factory, in order to produce the high standard essential oil extract or to be traded as food seasoning.

Figure A: Prototype plants - multipliers.	Figure B: Installation of the multipliers in the field.
Figure C: Newly-grown oregano plants (6 months in the field).	Figure D: Oregano plants ready for harvest.

Extraction procedure

Oregano oil is a liquid with yellow to reddish yellow colour, a strong smell of thymus and an aromatic and pungent taste.

Oregano essential oil is obtained by using steam distillation. By the end of June - mid of July every year, the oregano yields are mature and ready for harvest (figure E). After the selection of the top quality oregano, the plants are collected, left to dry for 1-2 days and transferred to our factory in concentrated stacks of 30-40 kg.

The extractor unit, equipped with steam and oil passage tubes (figure F), is filled with the dried leaves and flowers of the herb (figure G). Hot water steam passes through the oregano maze, the extracted essence is collected and flows from the bottom of the extractor towards a production vessel (figure H), where it is left to cool. This process takes about 3-4 hours, giving 4-6 kg of essential oil per 100 kg of desiccated herb.

Figure E: Oregano plants ready for harvest.	Figure F: The extractor unit.
Figure G: The dried stacks of oregano.	Figure H: Freshly extracted oregano oil.

Oil of oregano is the premier natural antiseptic and possesses a wide range of microbial killing powers. Unlike antibiotics there is no known tendency for development of microbial resistance.

Oil of oregano is a herbal oil derived from certain species of oregano plants. It should be noted that there are perhaps as many as 40 different species of oregano most of which are not rich in the essential oil. Also the 'oregano' used in food is often not actually oregano, it is marjoram!

Understanding the differences is vital if the natural anti-microbial powers of oregano are to be harnessed, but what is certain is that used correctly essential oil of oregano can offer excellent natural microbial killing powers.

Since the advent of penicillin there has been an ongoing development to produce new antibiotics, however it seems that drugs cannot be created fast enough to keep pace with microbial resistance. The fact is that from ancient times right up until the 1930's -1940's natural substances were the basis for treating infections. Now it seems that a combination of drug resistance, drug toxicity has led to a renewed interest in evaluating the potential of natural substances.

Oil of oregano is extracted from the leaves and flowers of the plant using a steam extraction process. Oil of oregano can kill or block growth of virtually any fungus as well as inhibiting growth of the majority of bacteria. The potential benefits from oil of oregano are immense, however there is a danger that non suitable sources or synthetic blends may be introduced, marketed, but will not work. Obviously, in such a case the consumer loses, but even worse such type of products could destroy the reputation and confidence of the genuine natural oil.

Oil of oregano contains many compounds - two of them carvacol and thymol are phenols with known antiseptic properties. In fact carvacol and thymol work together with synergistic effect. The efficacy of carvacol and thymol in natural oil is more potent than synthetic types - probably due to the fact that synthesis so far has been unable to exactly re-create carvacrol.

Another valid point is that although the anti-microbial activity of carvacol and thymol is known and are the primary active ingredients, natural oil of oregano contains more than 30 compounds and synthetic reproduction of all these active compounds is probably impossible and certainly prohibitively expensive.

The following list details compounds found in oil of oregano :

alpha-pinene	linalyl acetate	camphene	methylcarvacrol
beta-bisabolene	6-methyl-3-heptanol	carvacrol	p-cimene
calemene	p-cimene-8-ol	beta-caryophyllene	myrcene
cineole	phellandrene	cis-dihydrocarvone	beta-pinene
cis-sabinene hydrate	sabinene	cymene	spartholerol
decane	gamma-terpinene	germacrene D	terpinen-4-ol
carvacrol acetate	terpinolene	hexanal	thymol
limonene	trans-dihydrocarvone	linalool	undecane

USE IN AGRICULTURE

Anti-microbial properties without resistance build up from a natural product gives potential for many uses; obviously specific trials need to be undertaken to study each particular target problem, however, from what we know of the activity of the oil, we would expect significant use in prevention of bacterial infections, probable efficacy in prevention of avian coccidiosis and most likely ability to control fungal based disease.