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Crete TOURnet: Home Cretan Diet Aromatic Plants

Aromatic Plants

Aromatic Plants

Another important Cretan tradition. Ancient authors (e.g. Aristotle) recorded the following observation: a wild goat wounded by a hunter's arrow would try to find a certain plant, origanum dictamus L., the king of the endemic flora of Crete. As soon as the wild goat consumed this plant, the arrow would fall off the wound by itself!  In antiquity dictamus was considered a form of panacea (cure-all natural medicine).  Hippocrates, for example, recommended dictamus that facilitated labour and delivery in pregnant women.
Cretan pickerf of aromatic herbs offer a wide variety of products as oregano (origanum onites), basil (ocimum basilicum L.), tilia cordata mill., marjoram (origanum majorana), thyme (thymus sibthorpil benth.), mint (mentha), rosemary (rosmarius officinalis), bay (laurus nobilis L.), camomile (matricaria chamomilla L.), sage (salvia officinalis), a.o. All these herbs have been used as medicinal plants since antiquity and numerous texts by ancient authors attribute to them excellent therapeutic properties. Many of these Cretan herbs (among them dictamus) grow on steep slopes on the island and are usually gathered by experienced people.
Today these herbs are used for tea preparations and as a condiment; they can be found in most local markets and supermarkets. The herbs are dried under natural conditions and then packaged by modern packaging units without any form of chemical processing.