Caraway
- Type
- Plant
- Botanical name
- Carum carvi
Plant
Caraway is an edible biennial herb native to western Asia, Europe and North Africa, growing 30 to 60 cm tall with fine compound leaves and clusters of small white flowers from late spring to early summer. Plants grown in full sun contain more essential oil and smell stronger.[1]
The seeds flavour many foods, the leaves go into salads, soups and teas, and the first-year root can be cooked. The plant has a long history as a household remedy for digestive complaints.[1]
Caraway oil
Caraway oil is steam-distilled from the dried, crushed ripe fruits; in the mid-20th century the Netherlands was the largest producer. It is sold as a crude oil, the direct distillate, and as a rectified (redistilled) oil, which is paler and smells stronger and less fatty.[2]
The oil smells strongly of the fruit and tastes warm and biting. Smell panels often describe the oil simply as "rye bread", because rye bread is flavoured with caraway oil or with other materials containing carvone. Crude oil can have an unpleasant first note that redistilled oil does not have.[2]
Most caraway oil goes into flavourings for bread, cheese, meat, pickles, sauces and seasonings, and it is the main flavour of Scandinavian caraway spirits.[2]
As a herbal medicine
Caraway oil, taken by mouth or rubbed on the skin as an ointment, is traditionally used for digestive complaints such as bloating and flatulence. This rests on long use rather than on clinical trials. The oral medicines are not recommended under 18 years, and symptoms that last more than two weeks need a doctor.[3] Health Canada lists similar traditional uses for both the seed and the oil taken by mouth, adding help with appetite and digestive spasms, and gives doses for children from the age of 6 months.[4]
Safety
The concentrated oil irritates the moist linings of the mouth, nose and genitals. It is therefore added to a bath only after it has been well diluted in a dispersant.[5]
Products containing it
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 North Carolina State Extension, Carum carvi. Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Steffen Arctander, Perfume and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin, Elizabeth, NJ, 1960: Caraway Oil.
- ↑ European Medicines Agency, Carvi aetheroleum: herbal medicinal product. Retrieved 14 October 2026.
- ↑ Health Canada, Caraway – Carum carvi. Natural Health Products monograph, 31 January 2025.
- ↑ National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), Safety. Retrieved 8 November 2026.