Hyssop, an attractive garden plant with dark blue flowers,
has only small value as a spice, because the aroma is weak (and reduced to nil
after drying), and its taste is rather bitter. It can, however, be used for robust,
rustic dishes like potato or bean soup, and it goes well with fat meat; others
suggest it to spice up calf and chicken, where it may be an interesting
alternative to sage, whom hyssop resembles in its
slight bitterness, but not in fragrance. Sometimes, hyssop is added to bouquet garni (see parsley).
[ Plant part | Family | Aroma | Constituents | Origin | Etymology | Discussion | Bottom ]
Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.)
- Synonyms
-
Hyssop flower 
Hyssop flowers pharm Herba Hyssopi Albanian Hisop mjekësor, Hisopi mjekësor Bulgarian Исоп, Калам Isop, Kalam Chinese
(Cantonese)牛膝草 [ngàu sāt chóu], 神香草 [sàhn hèung chóu] Ngau sat chou, Sahn heung chou Chinese
(Mandarin)牛膝草 [niú xī cǎo], 神香草 [shén xiāng cǎo] Niu xi cao, Shen xiang cao Croatian Ljekoviti miloduh Czech Yzop, Yzop lékařský Danish Isop Dutch Hyssop, Ipse, Paddekruid, Ysop Esperanto Hisopo, Oficina hisopo Estonian Harilik iisop Farsi زوفا Zoufa Finnish Iisoppi French Hysope, Herbe sacrée, Hyssope Gaelic Isop Galician Hisopo German Eisop, Joseph, Kirchenseppl, Ysop Greek Ήσσωπος Issopos Hebrew אזוב Esov, Ezov Hungarian Izsóp Icelandic Ísópur Italian Issopo, Ossopo Japanese ヒソップ Hissopu Korean 하솝, 히서프, 히솝, 우슬초 Hasop, Hiseopu, Hisop, Usulcho Latvian Ārstniecības izops Lithuanian Vaistinis isopas Norwegian Isop Polish Hyzop lekarski Portuguese Hissopo Provençal Mariarmo Romanian Isop Russian Иссоп Issop Sanskrit Jufa Slovak Yzop lekársky Slovenian Izop, Ožepek Spanish Hisopo Swedish Isop Turkish Çördük otu, Zufa otu Ukrainian Ісоп звичайний, Гісоп лікарський Isop zvichajnyj, Hisop likarski - Used plant part
All aerial parts of the plant (stem, leaves, flowers) are used together. The dried plant is less aromatic than the fresh one.
- Plant family
Lamiaceae (mint family).
- Sensory quality
Aromatic and slightly bitter.
Hyssop inflorescence - Main constituents
The content of essential oil is rather low (0.3 to 0.9%); it is mostly composed of cineol, β-pinene and a variety of bicyclic monoterpene derivatives (L-pinocamphene, isopinocamphone, pinocarvone).
As many other plant of the mint family, hyssop contains rather large amounts of bitter and antioxidative tannines: Phenols with a diterpenoid skeleton (carnosol, carnosolic acid), depsides of coffeic acid(= 3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid) and several triterpenoid acids (ursolic and oleanolic acid). Very similar or the same compounds have also been found in sage and rosemary.For more information on bitter taste, see zedoary.
- Origin
Mediterranean.
- Etymology
The Greek plant name hyssopos [ὕσσωπος] is probably derived from Old Hebrew esob [אזוב] (mentioned in the Bible, see pomegranate), although esob most probably referred to a local variety of marjoram, not the plant called hyssop today. Another explanation gives an obscure Arabic word azzof “holy herb” as the source of the name; this is probably related to Kurdisch zufa [زووفا] “hyssop”. Cf. also French herbe sacrée.
- Selected Links
Nature One Health: Hyssop Saskatchewan Herb and Spice Association: Hyssop
- Table of Contents
- Alphabetical Index (index by names)
- Botanical Index (index by plant families)
- Geographical Index (index by country of origin)
- Morphological Index (index by plant part)
- Spice Mixture Index
- German version of this text
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