The role of spices in nutrition and health: A review of three popular spices used in Southern Nigeria

Abstract

Spices are increasingly finding other useful roles in healthcare aside their primary use as organoleptic enhancers in culinary. Several herbs and spices are currently being investigated for their potential health benefits, hence the explosion in scientific literature in the fields of nutraceuticals and functional foods. The rise in interest on medicinal properties of herbs and spices is consequent on the failing efficacy and toxicity associated with conventional drugs and their inaccessibility to poor rural dwellers. This work reviews three piquant spices; Piper guineense, Afromomum melegueta, and Tetrapleura tetrapetra common in the culinary of the Southern part of Nigeria, and it aims at concisely highlighting the researches that have been done on the nutritional quality, phytochemistry, and medicinal properties of these spices. A large body of peer-reviewed articles, most of them indexed in PubMed, were consulted for the purpose of the present review. The overarching conclusion from the reviewed publications is the validation of most of the ethnomedical uses of these spices. The authors hope that this concise presentation on these spices will guide subsequent research in this field.