Bay Leaf

Abstract

Bay (Laurus nobilis L.) leaf, or Turkish laurel, is an industrial plant used in foods, drugs and cosmetics. The dried leaves and essential oils are used extensively in the food industry for seasoning of meat products, soups and fish (Kilic et al., 2004). Bay leaves are also known as laurel leaves and are native to the Mediterranean countries. They are large, light to olive green elliptical leaves about 8 cm long and 3–4 cm wide. In 2000, Turkey exported 3600 t of L. nobilis leaves worth US$7.5 million (Tainter and Grenis, 1993; Kilic et al., 2004). The plant is widely cultivated in Europe, America and in the Arabian countries, from Libya to Morocco (Kumar et al., 2001). Extracts from these plants have great potential in protecting stored spices from Aspergillus flavus (Geeta and Reddy, 1990).