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Juniper berries are sometimes regarded as arils, [3] like the berry-like cones of yews. Juniperus communis berries vary from 4 millimetres ( 1 ⁄ 8 inch) to 12 millimetres ( 1 ⁄ 2 inch) in diameter; other species are mostly similar in size, though some are larger, notably J. drupacea ( 20–28 mm or 3 ⁄ 4 – 1 + 1 ⁄ 8 in).
A small quantity of ripe berries can be eaten as an emergency food or as a sage-like seasoning for meat. The dried berries can be roasted and ground into a coffee substitute. [10] Utah juniper is an aromatic plant. Essential oil extracted from the trunk and limb is prominent in α-pinene, δ-3-carene, and cis-thujopsene.
The fruit are berry-like cones known as juniper berries. They are initially green, ripening in 18 months to purple-black with a blue waxy coating; they are spherical, 4–12 mm ( 5 ⁄ 32 – 15 ⁄ 32 in) diameter, and usually have three (occasionally six) fleshy fused scales, each scale with a single seed.
Juniper berries are a spice used in a wide variety of culinary dishes and are best known for the primary flavoring in gin (and responsible for gin's name, which is a shortening of the Dutch word for juniper, jenever). A juniper-based spirit is made by fermenting juniper berries and water to create a "wine" that is then distilled.
This page is a sortable table of plants used as herbs and/or spices.This includes plants used as seasoning agents in foods or beverages (including teas), plants used for herbal medicine, and plants used as incense or similar ingested or partially ingested ritual components.
Juniper berries are used as a seasoning in cooking or in alcoholic beverages, [6] particularly to flavor gin. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] Juniper berries have also been used in traditional medicine for different conditions, although there is no high-quality clinical evidence that it has any effect. [ 8 ]
Juniperus communis – Western American tribes combined the berries of Juniperus communis with Berberis root bark in a herbal tea. Native Americans also used juniper berries as a female contraceptive. [83] Juniperus scopulorum, the leaves and inner bark of which were boiled by some Plateau tribes to create an infusion to treat coughs and fevers.
The plant was used as a traditional Native American medicinal plant, and as a food source, by the indigenous peoples of California, including the Cahuilla people, Kumeyaay people (Diegueno), Serrano, and Ohlone people. [13] [14] They gathered the berries to eat fresh and to grind into meal for baking. [5] The wood was also used for sinew-backed ...