Scientific Name Apium graveolens Linn.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

Family Apiaceae; Umbelliferae  

Used Part Fruits

Distribution Area   An erect, annual or biennial herb, occurring wild in the foot-hills of north-western Himalayas and the outlying hills of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar  Pradesh.

Common Uses .   Celery seeds are credited with stimulant and carminative properties    and are prescribed as nervine sedative and tonic. The seeds are simulative, cordial tonic, carminative diuretic emmenogauge, used in bronchitis.  Their decoction is a popular household remedy for rheumatism and they are said to be useful to some extent in liver and spleen trouble. The seeds exhibit a tranquilizing effect in experimental animals which suggests their therapeutic utility in various psychiatric, epilepsy-like diseases; they are prescribed as a decoction or as a liquid extract. The fatty    oil from seeds is used in many medicinal preparations as an antispasmodic and nerve stimulant.

The roots are credited with diuretic property; they are prescribed in anasarca and colic.

Pharmacological Effect The essential oil obtained from furits has been shown to possess tranquilizing and anti-    convulsant activities. It also exhibits mild depressant activity in mice. The oil shows significant anti-fungal activity against a number of fungi.

Others Celery seeds are employed as a substitute for fresh celery and in the    manufacture of seasoning mixtures and spice aromas, for flavoring soups and salads, tomato juice, spreads and sauces, and meat dishes. As    a flavoring agent they are used in the powder form. The powder is used in pickles and in the manufacture of celery salt which is mixture of ground celery seed and table salt. It is sprinkled on fish, egg, soup and croquets. Celery pepper is another popular spice mix containing ground black pepper in place of salt.

     Celery seed oil is one of the most valuable flavoring agents and is extensively used for imparting a warm, aromatic and agreeable flavor to culinary sauces and celery salts and to food products of diverse kinds such as canned soups and meats. The essential oil and the oleoresin are used as a fixative as well as an ingredient of perfumes and liqueurs.