Oregano Poleo: All You Need To Know

Oregano is a very popular plant and as you might be aware, sees use in enhancing various culinary items. Alongside its use in food, it can also be used as an ornamental plant and does have health benefits.

In this article, we’ll be talking about a particular species of oregano plants- the oregano poleo. We’ll be looking at the benefits it possesses as well as how to properly grow it in gardens.

What Is Oregano Poleo?

Oregano Poleo is a herbaceous plant and a variety of Oregano that is often found in Mexico or Puerto Rico. It is distinguishable by its aromatic leaves as it emits a very strong aroma. The leaves have a dry feel when touching it, and sometimes a flower is visible at the top of it.

They are available during the summer and often die out during the winter. Oregano itself falls under the mint family of plants.

The Benefits Of Oregano Poleo

Oregano is popular due to the many benefits it provides. Some of the benefits of Oregano Poleo are listed below:

Strong And Unique Flavour

The reason it gets used in many different cuisines is simply that oregano poleo has an incredible aroma and flavor. This flavor helps enhance many different types of food and due to being found as either dried or as oil, is highly applicable to many cuisines.

Contains Oxidants

Oregano Poleo is quite rich in antioxidants. Oxidants help ward off cancer and prevent cell degradation and damage. Indeed, because of being rich in oxidants, Oregano Poleo can be included in a diet for positive effects.

Oregano Poleo oil also has a similar antioxidant concentration. This makes it a suitable substitute for other oils to cook food in.

Reduces Bacterial And Viral Infections

Leaves and oils from Oregano Poleo have been found to have hints of anti-bacterial and anti-viral properties. The full extent has yet to be properly documented but early research has shown that consuming Oregano Poleo can protect you from certain strands of bacteria and prevent viral infections.

Further research might end up showing and identifying more bacterial and viral resistance. It is worth noting that Oregano Poleo, even now, shows promise regarding this.

Decreases Inflammation

One compound that is commonly present in oregano plants is carvacrol. Carvacrol is an important compound that works toward decreasing inflammation. While swelling can occur from causes like injuries, it can be incredibly detrimental in worse cases when combined with infections. So alongside being able to prevent viral infection, Oregano Poleo can also decrease severe inflammations further boosting its health benefits.

Alongside inflammation reduction, Oregano Poleo can also help prevent small cramps. This is quite helpful and notable for older people.

Reduction In Flatulence And Preventing Diarrhea

Another benefit is that consuming oregano poleo can reduce flatulence and also prevent diarrhea. Poleo can help cure stomach disorders and relieve bowel stress. Often you need to intake a small amount to help with such problems.

How To Use It?

You might be curious about how to implement Oregano Poleo into some of your cuisines. There are some methods you can try out. These are listed and briefly described below:

The first option you have is to use chopped-up oregano and sprinkle it onto your cuisine. You can simply wash the leaves and then chop them off into small pieces and then mince them. It is possible to use both dry and fresh oregano for this, depending on how much flavor you want to add to your cuisine. Usually, this is done on top of pizza or pasta.

The second option is to add the leaves to certain cuisines and extract the flavor from them. You can cook chicken or turkey using this method, and it is a much slower process, but it is possible to control the flavor added to it depending on the time you cook. Alternatively, you can use oregano leaves in salads.

Now, finally, the third option you have is to extract the oil from the leaves. Usually, a muddler is needed to pressurize the leaves and help squeeze out the oil from the leaves. Collect the oil using a jar. Often the extracted oil is mixed with virgin oil to help create the final product which you can then use in cooking cuisine.

How To Grow It?

As it has been stated before, oregano poleo blooms during spring and summer but dies out during winter. They are not very difficult to take care of during that time, but you do need to ensure you meet some of the required conditions. These include:

Oregano seeds should be planted once any signs of frost or snow have disappeared. They do not tolerate frost or snow of any kind and will wither away at any hints of those. A tolerance of 3-4 days before spring comes in can be allowed, but it is better to wait fully for spring before planting the seeds.

However, they do not prefer high humidity. So if needed, make sure to use a dehumidifier to reduce the humidity in the air.

Due to their aversion to the cold, it can be guessed that oregano poleo prefers full sunlight. It does not like shade, so prefers more open areas in gardens where there aren’t any taller plants to block the sunlight.

Oregano Poleo generally prefers well-drained soil of pH levels 6-8. Generally, this isn’t too demanding since you will only need to make sure that there isn’t too much water in the soil and drain out the water from time to time.

When planting, remember to keep the plants spaced apart since growing them too close together can stunt each other’s growth.

How To Store It?

The most common way to store Oregano Poleo is to cut some of the leaves and then tie them together. You will then need to place them in a sunny area to dry them. This will result in the oil content being better extracted. You can use drying pans or an air dryer to speed up the process.

The Nutritional Value

Oregano Poleo contains a good deal of vitamins and minerals. This makes it a good addition to most diets since it can be used to supplement dietary needs. The most important compounds available in oregano include thymol and carvacrol, which gives its anti-bacterial properties and helps with inflammation.