Chervil: A Multifunctional Miraculous Nutritional Herb

INTRODUCTION

Since, long time ago, plants have been a key resource for curing diseases and healing ailments (Gantait et al., 2010). Now a day’s interest in herbal novel medicines has increased tremendously, the modern clinicians are inclined towards herbal based medicines (Gidwani et al., 2010a). According to WHO, it is estimated that about 80% of the total population relies on herbal medicines to maintain their health (Tiwari et al., 2011). As the herbal medicines are safe to use World Health Organization (WHO, 1998) has emphasized the need to ensure the quality of herbal medicinal plant and their products by using modern controlled technique and applying suitable standards (Jain et al., 2007, 2011; WHO, 1998).

One such herbal plant is chervil which has the potential to be used in novel medicines throughout the world. Anthriscus or chervil is a common plant genus of the family Apiaceae; it comprises 12 species, some of which are considered as noxious weeds.

Anthriscus cerefolium L. Hoffm., commonly known as chervil is a warmth-giving herb belonging to the family Apiaceae (Umbelliferae) (Vaughan et al., 1997). Chervil is a member of the carrot family and its leaves highly resemble carrot tops. There are two main varieties of chervil, one plain and one curly.

Anthriskos (also anthriskon or anthriskion) is the Greek name of this plant; the species name cerefolium appears to mean “leaves like wax” and might refer to the bright green color but is more possibly a spelling mistake for cherifolium (Greek chairephyllon), the name the Romans used for this plant (Greek chairein “to delight in” and phyllon “leaf”, referring to the pleasant aroma of the leaves). The present review highlights the different species of chervil and elaborates in detail the use of garden chervil as medicinal herb in various aspects. This herb is advantageous, nutritious and regarded as miraculous.

TYPES OF CHERVIL

Chervil is classified into four main varieties (Fig. 1). They are as follows:

Out of all these species, garden chervil is most widely used. In the present review, two varieties are discussed and described in detail i.e garden chervil and wild chervil.

Fig. 1:	Different species of chervil

Fig. 2:	Garden chervil plant

Garden chervil
Synonym: Garden Chervil, French Herb, French Parsely, Sweet Cicely, Rich Man’s Parsley

Origin and history: Chervil was once called ‘myrrhis’ because the volatile oil extracted from chervil leaves bears a similar aroma to the biblical resinous substance ‘myrrh’. Folklore has it that chervil makes one merry, sharpens the wit, bestows youth upon the aged and symbolizes sincerity. Its flavor and fragrance resemble the myrrh brought by the wise men to the baby Jesus. Because of this and because chervil symbolized new life, it is linked to the Easter celebration in parts of Europe where it is traditional to serve chervil soup on Holy Thursday. The warmth of this herb suggested medicinal uses to many of history’s herbalists (Simonetti and Simonetti, 1991) first-century Roman scholar Pliny and the seventeenth-century herbalist Nicholas Culpeper believed that chervil, as Cuipeper put it, “does much please and warm old and cold stomach.” Table 2 shows the scientific classification of garden chervil.

Era’s of chervil (from ancient to modern): The herb chervil was utilized by people of ancient civilization, is utilized by the recent and modern people of today and will always be utilized in future coming decades:

Mediterranean Era Chiristian Era Romans European and western Era of today

Table 1:	Vernacular names of chervil

Table 2:	Scientific classification of chervil (Hill, 1988)

Common vernacular names of chervil: This herb is called by many different names in different countries (Table 1).

Description: Chervil is available mainly in two distinct types, salad chervil and turnip-rooted chervil. Salad chervil is grown in a similar way to parsley (Grieve and Grieve, 1971). Tuberous-rooted chervil is considered as gourmet vegetable. The whole plant smells of anise and tastes a little of pepper and of anise; it blooms during May to August (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3:	Chervil flower cluster and unripe fruits

Morphological characters of plant:

Physical characteristics of the plant: Chervil is grown from seed sown in early spring or autumn. It is biennial herb growing to 0.45 by 0.25 m. It is hardy to zone 7 and is not frost tender. It is in flower from May to June and the seeds ripen from June to July. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Insects. The plant is self-fertile. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil (Clapham et al., 1962). The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in full shade (deep woodland) semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. It requires moist soil.

Cultivation and collection of plant

Cultivation and production technology (McGee and Stuckey, 2002)

Fig. 4:	Macronutrient profile of chervil (total 99%)

Fig. 5:	Nutritional benefits of chervil

Nutritional analysis of chervil: The herb is a great source for minerals and many vitamins. In 100 g of dried chervil, there are about 230 calories, of which 6% is total fat, dietary fiber is 11.3 g, protein is 23.2 g and of course, it has no cholesterol. Chervil is 99% nutritious (Fig. 4). The plant contains major constituent as flavonoids and only minor amounts of essential oil (0.3% in the fresh herb, 0.9% in the seeds); it also contains methyl chavicol (estragole) and hendecane (undecane).

Rich supplement: Chervil is rich in vitamins and minerals. It is an all-rounder as it has all the essential health supplements in it. This herb serves as a good source for health supplement pills and syrups for gaining energy. This single herb is packed with many nutrients (Fig. 5).

Uses: Herbs, a major part of traditional medicine, has been used in medical practice since antiquity and are considered to be one of the most common element of ayurvedic, homeopathic and naturopathic medicine (Gidwani et al., 2010b).

Table 3:	Uses of the herb chervil

Table 4:	Medicinal properties of chervil

Exposure of human skin leads to a large number of problems like acne, pigmentation and sunburn (Kapoor and Saraf, 2011) the remedy to all these is the use of herbal medicines. Like various herbs chervil too is also abundant of therapeutic constituents and has been used for several medicinal purposes throughout history by herbalists. It has many health and medicinal benefits (Table 3).

Medicinal properties (Table 4): The leaves have a mild digestive action and an infusion of fresh leaves can settle the stomach. It is used as a spring tonic that lifts the spirits (Stuart, 1979).

Neutralizer for blood: Chervil, when taken along with herbal tea improves blood circulation and cuts down the cellulitis. It is also used to treat hemorrhoids and varicose veins. It is a rich source of iron and zinc and fights against anemia. The fluid retention symptom during menstruation period can be washed out with the help of chervil. With its unique blood-thinning and anti-hypertensive properties, it calms down the symptoms of high blood pressure. It was medicinally used as a blood purifier. (Grieve and Grieve, 1971).

In skin disorder: Chervil leaves are also very beneficial for suppurative and inflammatory skin conditions such as eczema (also known as atopic dermatitis characterized by redness, swelling, itching and scaling) (Amit et al., 2007), psoriasis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and acne (an inflammatory disease of sebaceous gland) (Hans, 1988). All these effects are slightly similar with the therapeutic activity of Tinospora cordifolia (Ahirwar and Gidwani, 2011):

Fig. 6:	Chervil leaf

Pharmacological importance:

Fig. 7:	Chervil garnishing salad

Culinary uses (Simonetti and Simonetti, 1991): It adds fragrance to cream-based soups, butter sauces, scrambled eggs or omelet’s. Its best added at the end of the cooking process to keep its flavor. The herb is best used fresh as it does not dry well like most leafy herbs (Fig. 6).

As flavoring agent: Chervil’s flavor is lost very easily, either by drying the herb, or from too much heat, so it should be added at the end of cooking or sprinkled on in its fresh, raw state. Chervil’s flavor is preserved by keeping it in white wine vinegar. Its delicate leaves make it an attractive herb to use for garnishes (Fig. 7). [http://www.mulberrycreek.com/] Dried chervil is basically tasteless and musty and at best tastes sweet and grassy with a touch of liquorice. Chervil is an effective seasoning to foods. Both the leaves and the stems are used for cooking and whole sprigs make a delicate and decorative garnish. Blanched sprigs of chervil are occasionally used in soup (Alden et al., 2009; FAO, 2010).

Edible uses:

Edible leaves are used raw in salads or as flavoring in cooked foods such as soups and stews. The leaves are an essential ingredient of ‘bouquet garni’. The leaves should always be used fresh because the delicate flavor does not withstand drying or prolonged cooking (Gleason and Cronquist, 1991)

In cosmetic:

In crafts and horticulture: Flowers are used in dried arrangements and tussie mussies; both flowers and leaves used in potpourris. Chervil is sometimes used as a trap crop by gardeners to protect vegetable plants from slugs (Spalik, 1997; Philbrick and Gregg, 1967).

Other uses: Plant extract from centuries, serves to be the best remedy against various disorders (Alam et al., 2012). Chervil extract is used in menstrual cramps. Also used for healing eczema, edema, abscesses, gout stones and scrofula. Europeans use this Chervil herb to lower blood pressure. Pregnant women bathed in an infusion of chervil; its lotion is used as a skin cleanser; and medicinally as a blood purifier. It is also beneficial for treatment of kidney disorders, bladder disorders and cystitis. It can be used in diet to lower blood pressure. Chervil is said to be of value in treating poor memory and mental depression (NRCS, 2000). The growing plant is said to repel slugs, hence used as repellent.

Toxicity (Drugge and Dunn, 1995): Chervil has also been implicated in "strimmer dermatitis", or phytophotodermatitis, due to spray from weed trimmers and other forms of contact.

WILD CHERVIL

Synonym: Wild chervil, cow parsley.

Plant description: Wild chervil, Anthriscus sylvestris (L.) Hoffm. Figure 8 is a weed belonging to the parsley family (Apiaceae). Its three to four foot heights, fern-like leaves and white flowers arranged in a compound umbel pattern are quite pronounced during late May to early July and are commonly found along roadsides and in meadows in central Vermont. Over the past five years, this weed has spread rapidly. It propagates by both seed and by lateral budding at the top of the root. It competes aggressively with forage crops for light, water and nutrients and often kills off the surrounding vegetation by shading it. It is particularly damaging to forage crops, wild chervil is not poisonous to livestock. The stems are very slow to dry and reduce crop quality due to molding.

Fig. 8:	Wild chervil

This weed serves as a host for the parsnip yellow fleck virus that infects carrots, celery and parsnips. It also belongs to carrot family.

Active constituent of wild chervil: Wild chervil contains bioflavonoid as major active constituent.