Why spices are used in food

Spice use traces all the way back to the dawn of food. This observation can be attributed

to the idea that people always try to perfect recipes and make them taste the best they possibly

can. It remains evident that such a task is no easy feat especially from the beginning of the new

world. Spices have and continue to be an important part of world trade in ancient times due to

the location of origin. This is especially true of certain spices such as pepper, native to south

India, of which the Goths demanded 3000 lbs. of it as ransom from when they laid siege to Rome

in 408 AD (Billing and Sherman)( Pavithra). While one may not think about spices in the way

that people of ancient times did it’s clear that their role was critical. As such, human bodies do

not give incentive to certain things without key benefits to the body or species as a whole; the

same can be seen in the many functions of the body. Thus to understand why spices are used

today this paper will look at the historical, psychological, and biological factors that remain an

undercurrent to today.

Spices are commonplace in the everyday modern kitchen but even those of third world

status, everyone uses spices, well at least a great majority of people in the world use spices. This

observation begs the question how did spices grab such a foothold internationally? According to

Billing and Sherman scientists believe that originally people cooked with spices purely because

they tasted better (Billing and Sherman). Billing an12

not quantified at the time, there were some visible results. A family that used spices

were less likely to suffer foodborne illnesses or food poisoning and more likely to be healthier,

thus, as a result, there would be a noticeable difference between them to families that did not use

spices (Billing and Sherman). The same is true for especially in hot climates. In the same vein,

families that used spices were able to store foods for a longer period of time before possible
spoilage (Pavithra). This, in turn, allowed spice using families to handle long periods of food

scarcity or hard times. As result of observing and imitating such habits of healthier neighbors

could have caused the use of spices to spread rapidly throughout a culture (Billing and Sherman).

This would result in an increase of healthier offspring if one used the appropriate spices and then

on top of that they would learn spice traditions from their elder or previous generation (Billing

and Sherman). In addition, there seems to be a possibility that those who lived in areas

possessing certain spices, in turn, developed heightened abilities to taste phytochemicals. As a

result, the possible emergence of a group and its variations have prompted research into such

predictions (Billing and Sherman). For example, reproduction is done with the purpose to

increase the longevity of the species and the processes that are required to fulfill that end are

heavily reliant on dopamine reward centers (Parish). Likewise, the body is programmed for fear

to prevent one from doing anything that may prove harmful to their wellbeing, so why not do the

same things with one’s taste buds. Sugar was extremely rare in the past, and it possess the ability

to store energy, this made it invaluable to human physiology (Parish). It may be hard to relate to

the rarity of sugar, but it is key to note that the transatlantic slave trade was formed with the

particular interest producing sugar. Similarly, salt was equally rare and valuable as people were

paid in salt from ancient times (Parish). It was also effective in seasoning or preserving meals

(Parish).

The lay answer to, why are spices used, lies within the easy answer that they serve to

heighten the flavor, color, and palatability of the food or dish being prepared. While that answer

may provide some enlightenment to the question, it does not serve to understand the ultimate

biological or evolutionary reason why spices are used. In addition to that with such an answer,

why do certain dishes that use odorous plant products appeal more in taste than others? Luckily it
is possible to find the “true” reason for spice use which may relate to the protective effects

phytochemicals have against plants' biotic enemies (Billing and Sherman). It is well known that

meat and other foods are attacked by bacteria and fungi which also have the ability to hurt plants.

Thus it has been found through recorded history that food-borne bacteria pose important health

concerns (Billing and Sherman). Thus if spices can kill microorganisms or inhibit their growth

before they could produce toxins, use of spices might reduce foodborne illnesses and food

poisoning (Gottardi et al.). This hypothesis lays the foundation for biological attraction to spices

and is tested through several predictions showing the human relation of spices to be independent

of location and dependent on human biological needs.

The first prediction that was studied looked into the idea that spices should exhibit

antibacterial and antifungal activity (Billing and Sherman). Many researchers have been

conducting experiments to find out such information and quantify it so that it will prove

beneficial to society. While the range of studies may vary along with the number of techniques

used it is now a clear fact that a majority of spices possess potent antimicrobial properties that

both plants aid the human body (Qing et al.).

The key interest of spices ability to inhibit bacteria is important due to its connections to

human biology. Since bacteria are more commonly incriminated in foodborne disease outbreaks

than other points of origin, it's obvious why our body would pay more attention to them (Billing

and Sherman). Within this study, 30 spices were used. Of those 30 spices, test results revealed

that at some concentration they were able to kill or inhibit at least 25% of the bacterial species on

which they had been tested, and 15 of these spices inhibited at least 75% of bacterial species

(Billing and Sherman). The most potent spices included onions, garlic, allspice and oregano this
was proved by their ability to inhibit or kill every bacterium they were tested on. In addition, a

majority of the bacteria the spices were tested on varied considerably in their geography, and

thus they had the ability to contaminate foods everywhere.

Finishing with the third prediction that “a greater proportion of bacteria should be

inhibited by recipes from hot climates than from cool climates” (Billing and Sherman). Recipes

from countries in a hotter climate on average contain higher amounts of spices than recipes from

cooler countries (Billing and Sherman). In contrast spices of lesser inhibitory ability were not

seen to increase in use per recipe when sorted by climates (Billing and Sherman). Likewise, there

was a positive relationship between the ratio of bacterial species that were inhibited by each

spice as well as the ratio of countries using that particular spice. This also indicated by the

widespread use of spices which are most effective against bacteria (Billing and Sherman).

Coupled with the study of spices biological importance one can understand its

psychological functions as well. Spices have originally been able to resist such bacterium and

eventually new foodborne bacteria, or fungi evolved migrating to those locations (Billing and

Sherman). As a result, those who ate such contaminated food would become ill, and all creatures

will avoid that taste in response (Billing and Sherman). In line with the previous ideas, another

idea can be inferred: “if one eats food beneficial to their health then their body may be more

attracted to tastes that make them feel healthier.” This habit or action is commonly referred to as

“taste-aversion learning”(Billing and Sherman). Interestingly enough when one adds a new spice

to a dish that caused illness, one might find the dish has surprisingly become palatable once

again (Gottardi et al.). In the same hand, spices might have been able to kill the microorganism

that was the original cause of the illness in the first place. Thus its understandable to believe that
less spiced dishes would have more “taste aversion” related to them due to their increased

likelihood of possessing foodborne bacteria or fungi (Billing and Sherman). As a result, foods

that possessed a spiciness or great flavor would be associated more with greater taste and

enjoyment (Billing and Sherman). This should be proven further with studies of dishes in

climates which cause dishes to spoil rapidly. This would then cause an increase in the number of

spices per recipe over time, due to the continual changes in taste, which have shown to correlate

with the inhibition of various bacteria and fungi (Billing and Sherman).

While much more information is written on this subject matter, this paper does not have

the breadth to examine it all. Thus, from the aforementioned research one can understand the

role spices play in foods as well as their origin of use and why they are continued to be used

today. “Taste aversion” is a backing factor as to why some foods are liked, and others are not.

Likewise, the ability of spices to allow humans to lead healthier lives would only compound the

emergence of such a factor to come into play. Further studies linking the effects of each spices

antimicrobial properties are important however an overall assessment can be summarized by the

variance of spice use when separated by climate temperatures. In warmer temperatures, it makes

sense for spice use to increase as food spoils more quickly and in turn would have a higher

likelihood of possessing bacteria. Even without the previous information, this would give a hint

to spices antimicrobial properties and further elucidate why spices are continued to be used in

dishes today. The importance of spices in food comes not only from a historical perspective but

that of biology which is independent of where a human may live.

 Works Cited

Gottardi, Davide et al. “Beneficial Effects of Spices in Food Preservation and Safety.” Frontiers in

Microbiology 7 (2016): 1394. PMC. Web. 14 Jan. 2018.

Liu, Qing et al. “Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Spices.” International Journal of Molecular

Sciences 18.6 (2017): 1283. PMC. Web. 14 Jan. 2018.

Parish, Mickey. “How do salt and sugar prevent microbial spoilage?” Scientific American, Scientific

American, www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-do-salt-and-sugar-pre/.

Paul W. Sherman, Jennifer Billing; Darwinian Gastronomy: Why We Use Spices: Spices taste good

because they are good for us, BioScience, Volume 49, Issue 6, 1 June 1999, Pages 453–463,

https://doi.org/10.2307/1313553

Pavithra, G. “Effect of Spices on Bacteria – A Short Review.” Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and

Research, vol. 6, no. 8, ser. 7, 2014, pp. 268–270. 7, doi:10.1007/978-981-10-5116-6_22.