Recipe
Diktamos — Cretan dittany tea
- Herb:
- Dittany of Crete Origanum dictamnus
- Method:
- Herbal infusion (tea)
- Plant part:
- Leaf
About 10 minBeginnerRecipe science profile
Procedure
- Pour 250 ml of boiling water over a teaspoon of dried Cretan dittany herb.
- Cover and steep 5–8 minutes, then strain.
- Add honey to taste; Cretans drink diktamos plain and hot, often with a drop of raki.
- 1–2 cups a day with a cold or after a heavy meal.
Extraction
- Herb:
- 1 teaspoon (about 1.5 g) of dried aerial parts per 250 ml
- Solvent:
- boiling water, 5–8 minutes, covered
- Shelf life:
- drink within 12 hours
- Target compounds:
- essential oil containing carvacrol and p-cymene and flavonoids pass into hot water; the infusion smells of oregano
Notes
A traditional drink per EMA HMPC for coughs with a cold and mild digestive complaints. Not in pregnancy (traditional caution and EMA alike), not for children under 12. Buy only cultivated — wild plants on the Cretan cliffs are protected.
Why it works
Cretan dittany contains an oil with carvacrol and p-cymene, the same compounds as oregano, plus flavonoids and phenolic acids; the review by Liolios et al. 2010 summarises their antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activity from the laboratory. EMA HMPC recognises the herb for traditional use in coughs, digestive complaints and externally on the skin solely on the basis of centuries of tradition — clinical trials do not exist.
Literature
- EMA HMPC: Origani dictamni herba — European Union herbal monograph — Traditional use for cough associated with a cold, mild digestive complaints and externally for minor skin inflammation.
- Liolios CC, Graikou K, Skaltsa E, Chinou I (2010): Dittany of Crete: A botanical and ethnopharmacological review. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 131(2):229–241 — Review of history since antiquity, essential oil composition (carvacrol) and preclinical data.
Related
Dittany of Crete — Herb card
Herbal infusion (tea) — Processing method detail