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Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.)

Synonyms

pharmaceuticalHerba Hyssopi
AlbanianHisop mjekësor, Hisopi mjekësor
Arabicزوفا
زُوفَا
Zufa
Aramaicܐܝܙܘܒ݂, ܐܣܘܦܘܣ, ܙܘܦ
Ezov, Esopus, Sup
BretonSikadez
BulgarianИсоп, Калам
Isop, Kalam
Chinese
(Cantonese)
牛膝草 [ngàu sāt chóu], 神香草 [sàhn hēung 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
Copticⲥⲧⲟⲓ
Stoi (?)
CroatianLjekoviti miloduh
CzechYzop, Yzop lékařský
DanishIsop
DutchHyssop, Ipse, Paddekruid, Ysop
EsperantoHisopo, Oficina hisopo
EstonianHarilik iisop
Farsiزوفا
Zoufa
FinnishIisoppi
FrenchHysope, Herbe sacrée, Hyssope
GaelicIsop
GalicianHisopo
GermanEisop, Joseph, Kirchenseppl, Ysop
GreekΉσσωπος
Issopos
Greek (Old)Ὕσσωπος
Hyssopos
Hebrewאזוב
אֵזוֹב
Esov, Ezov
HungarianIzsóp
IcelandicÍsópur
ItalianIssopo, Ossopo
Japaneseヒソップ
Hissopu
Korean하솝, 히서프, 히솝, 우슬초
Hasop, Hiseopu, Hisop, Usulcho
Laoໄຮຊອບ
Haisop
LatinHysopum, Ysopus
LatvianĀrstniecības izops
LithuanianVaistinis isopas
NorwegianIsop
PolishHyzop lekarski
PortugueseHissopo
ProvençalMariarmo
RomanianIsop
RussianИссоп
Issop
SanskritJufa
SerbianИзоп
Izop
SlovakYzop lekársky
SlovenianIzop, Ožepek
SpanishHisopo
SwedishIsop
TurkishÇördük otu, Zufa otu
UkrainianІсоп звичайний, Гісоп лікарський
Isop zvichajnyj, Hisop likarski
Urduزوفہ
Zufa
VietnameseCỏ ngưu tất
Co nguu tat
Yiddishאזובֿ
Ezev
Hyssopus officinalis: Pink hyssop
Pink hyssop
Hyssopus officinalis: Hyssop inflorescence
Hyssop inflorescence
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.

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.

Hyssopus officinalis: Hyssop flowers
Hyssop flowers
Hyssopus officinalis: White-flowered hyssop
Hyssop flowers (albino)
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. Probably, Arabic az-zufa [الزوفا the hyssop belongs to the same kin; cf. also modern Kurdish zufa [زووفا].

Selected Links

Indian Spices: Hyssop (indianetzone.com) Saskatchewan Herb and Spice Association: Hyssop Ilkas und Ullis Kochecke: Ysop (rezkonv.de via archive.org)


Hyssopus officinalis: Hyssop flower
Hyssop flower
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).


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