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Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distinguishes herbs from spices. Herbs generally refers to the green or parts of a plant (either fresh or dried), while spices are usually dried and produced from other parts of the plant, including , bark, and .
Herbs have a variety of uses including culinary, medicinal, aromatic and in some cases, spiritual. General usage of the term "herb" differs between culinary herbs and ; in medicinal or spiritual use, any parts of the plant might be considered "herbs", including leaves, roots, flowers, seeds, root bark, inner bark (and Vascular cambium), resin and pericarp.
The word "herb" is pronounced in Commonwealth English, but is standard among American English speakers as well as those from regions where h-dropping occurs. In Canadian English, both pronunciations are common. In botany, the noun "herb" refers to a "plant that does not produce a woody stem", and the adjective "herbaceous" means "herb-like", referring to parts of the plant that are green and soft in texture". (1994). 9780730104001, Reed. ISBN 9780730104001
Another sense of the term herb can refer to a much larger range of plants, with culinary, therapeutic or other uses. For example, some of the most commonly described herbs such as Salvia, rosemary and Lavandula would be excluded from the botanical definition of an herb as they do not die down each year, and they possess woody stems. In the wider sense, herbs may be herbaceous perennials but also trees, subshrubs, shrubs, annuals, , , , algae, , and fungi. Herbalism can utilize not just stems and leaves but also fruit, roots, bark and gums. Therefore, one suggested definition of an herb is a plant which is of use to humans, although this definition is problematic since it could cover a great many plants that are not commonly described as herbs.
Botany and the study of herbs were, in their infancy, primarily a study of the pharmacological uses of plants. During the Middle Ages, when humoral theory guided medicine, it was posited that foodstuffs, possessing their own humoral qualities, could alter the humoral temperaments of people. Parsley and sage were often used together in medieval cookery, for example in chicken broth, which had developed a reputation as a therapeutic food by the 14th century. One of the most common sauces of the age, green sauce, was made with parsley and often sage as well. In a 14th-century recipe recorded in Latin "for lords, for settling their temperament and whetting their appetite" green sauce is served with a dish of cheese and whole egg yolks boiled in watered down wine with herbs and spices.
(2025). 9781843833635, The Boydell Press. ISBN 9781843833635
Herbs can be perennials such as thyme, oregano, sage or lavender, biennials such as parsley, or annuals like basil. Perennial herbs can be shrubs such as rosemary ( Rosmarinus officinalis), or trees such as bay laurel ( Laurus nobilis) – this contrasts with Herbaceous plant, which by definition cannot be woody plants. Some plants are used as both herbs and spices, such as dill weed and dill seed or coriander leaves and seeds. There are also some herbs, such as those in the Lamiaceae, that are used for both culinary and medicinal purposes.
Emperor Charlemagne (742–814) compiled a list of 74 different herbs that were to be planted in his gardens. The connection between herbs and health is important already in the European Middle Ages-- The Forme of Cury (that is, "cookery") promotes extensive use of herbs, including in salads, and claims in its preface "the assent and advisement of the masters of physic and philosophy in the King's Court".
Herbs were used in prehistoric medicine. As far back as 5000 BCE, evidence that used herbs in medicine was inscribed on cuneiform. In 162 CE, the physician Galen was known for concocting complicated herbal remedies that contained up to 100 ingredients.
Some plants contain that have effects on the body. There may be some effects when consumed in the small levels that typify culinary "spicing", and some herbs are toxic in larger quantities. For instance, some types of herbal extract, such as the extract of St. John's-wort ( Hypericum perforatum) or of kava ( Piper methysticum) can be used for medical purposes to relieve depression and stress. However, large amounts of these herbs may lead to toxic overload that may involve complications, some of a serious nature, and should be used with caution. Complications can also arise when taken with some prescription medicines.
Herbs have long been used as the basis of traditional Chinese herbal medicine, with usage dating as far back as the first century Common Era and far before. In India, the Ayurveda medicinal system is based on herbs. Medicinal use of herbs in Western cultures has its roots in the Hippocratic (Greek) elemental healing system, based on a quaternary elemental healing metaphor. Famous herbalist of the Western tradition include Avicenna (Persian), Galen (Roman), Paracelsus (German Swiss), Culpepper (English) and the botanically inclined Eclectic physicians of 19th century/early 20th century America (John Milton Scudder, Harvey Wickes Felter, John Uri Lloyd). Modern pharmaceuticals had their origins in crude herbal medicines, and to this day, some drugs are still extracted as fractionate/isolate compounds from raw herbs and then purified to meet pharmaceutical standards.
There is a record dated 1226 for '12d for Roses for Baron's Chamber and in 1516 for flowers and rushes for chambers for Henry the 9th
Certain herbs contain psychoactive properties that have been used for both religious and recreational purposes by humans since the early Holocene era, notably the leaves and extracts of the cannabis and coca plants. The leaves of the coca plant have been chewed by people in northern societies for over 8,000 years, while the use of cannabis as a psychoactive substance dates back to the first century CE in China and northern Africa.
Indigenous Australian peoples developed "bush medicine" based on plants that were readily available to them. The isolation of these groups meant the remedies developed were for far less serious diseases than the western illnesses they contracted during colonisation. Herbs such as Mentha australis, Acacia pycnantha and eucalyptus were used for coughs, diarrhea, fever and headaches.
also used herbs for spiritual purposes. Plants may be used to induce spiritual experiences for rites of passage, such as in some Native American cultures. The Cherokee use both Salvia apiana and Cedar wood for spiritual cleansing and Smudge stick.
One method and perhaps the best, used to extract natural oils from herbs to make lipstick is partition chromatography. The process involves separation in a watery solution, and then the injection of colour under pressure.
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