HUMAN cultures developed a taste for spices as a safeguard against foodborne pathogens, according to the first comprehensive study of their use.
Microbiologists have known for years that many of the chemicals that give spices their distinctive flavours also inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi. But despite the common assumption that spices became popular because of their antimicrobial properties, rather than their taste, no one had put this theory to the test.
If spices are primarily antimicrobial agents, says Paul Sherman, a behavioural ecologist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, their use should be more common in hotter countries, where food is more likely to spoil. "We all think we know that as you go to hotter climates, you get spicier foods. But to our surprise, that had never been quantified," he says.
Together with undergraduate Jennifer Billing, Sherman scoured cookbooks and came up with more than 4500 ...
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