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How To Tell If Cilantro Is Bad – Detailed Information

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Cilantro is an annual herb in the family of Apiaceae. Its flowers are numerous, small, white or pink, collected in an inflorescence. Likewise, its taste cannot be confused with anything because it is slightly bitter, tart, and very pronounced. 

This spicy plant is used not only in cooking but also in perfumery and cosmetics. It this become essential to know how to tell if cilantro is bad.

Most often, we add cilantro to various dishes, giving them a pleasant aroma. In addition to excellent taste, this plant contains many beneficial substances for the body. Together with a dietitian, it has many benefits.

How To Tell If Cilantro Is Bad
“is my cilantro still good to eat?” via Reddit

How To Tell If Cilantro Is Bad?

1. Off smell

You can tell if cilantro is bad by smelling. If you get off odor or smell that means it is bad. Throw it out immediately and buy a new one from the store.

2. Weak flavor

You need to taste the vegetable. If the flavor is weak and the plant is has lost its potency, it is bad and is not suitable for human consumption.

3. Mushy cilantro

Check the veggie’s texture. If it is slimy, mushy and soft, such plant is bad and need to be thrown away.

How To Grow Cilantro To Ensure A Good Harvest

How To Tell If Cilantro Is Bad 2
via pxhere

1. Choose the location

Cilantro seed is convenient because it grows well both in sunny areas and in partial shade. Growing up, the plant forms compact bushes with beautifully carved leaves resembling parsley. And cilantro, with its aroma, repels many pests, so its proximity to other crops can be helpful.

Sowing cilantro is recommended in areas where cereals, potatoes or legumes were grown last year. But after carrots, late varieties of cabbage and herbs such as anise, fennel, celery, parsnips and parsley, planting cilantro is not recommended.

This is because the soil no longer contains the substances necessary for its development.

2. Soil

The future harvest directly depends on the structure and quality of the soil. Cilantro seed grows well on the loose and humus-rich soils; therefore, the garden must be fertilized before planting.

It is better to do this in the fall, introducing manure for digging, bird droppings diluted in water, rotted compost, or using complex mineral preparations. Fertilizers are evenly distributed in the soil during the winter, which the spring melting of snow will also facilitate.

Heavy clay soil is entirely unsuitable for growing cilantro from seeds. Such soils are usually poor in nutrient content, and that is water stagnation often occurs, leading to the death of the root system.

Remember, when improving the quality of the land, you should limit the application of peat, which can unnecessarily increase the level of acidity and make it unsuitable for growing coriander.

3. Sowing and growing

Since cilantro is quite cold-resistant, it can be sown from April as soon as the snow melts and the ground thaws. In this case, you will pick off the first leaves for the salad at the beginning of summer. 

You can get a harvest of fragrant greens even earlier if you plant outlets through seedlings. To do this, in February, several seeds are sown in cups or boxes and grown at home on a windowsill. 

And with the onset of spring, seedlings are planted in a greenhouse or simply in open ground. But it should be noted that growth in greenhouses allows you to feast on a delicious barbecue with spicy cilantro by the May holidays.

Bearing in mind the helpful neighborhood of cilantro with other crops, it is often sown randomly, scattering seeds over other beds, in aisles, along the edges of plantings or paths.

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Harvesting For Future Use

The first young leaves with an amazing aroma and a whole range of vitamins will be ready for harvest in a month. Cilantro is used in fresh salads, side dishes, meat preparation, and fish dishes. 

Also, it adds a unique flavor to soups. Chopped leaves give sauces and marinades a specific, “oriental” character.

When harvesting it for fresh use, leave a few rosettes of cilantro for the seeds. By about the middle of summer, the bush will drive out the arrow and bloom, and by August, fruits are formed on the umbrella. After they are fully ripe, up to a handful of seeds can be obtained from each plant.

After collecting them, they must be dried and used whole or ground to prepare your favorite dishes. Cilantro greens are also harvested for the winter, drying leaves torn from branches or freezing them.

 Uses Of Cilantro

  • To prevent diabetes

Studies have shown that cilantro promotes insulin secretion and help to lower blood sugar levels.

  • Great for eyes and skin 

Cilantro has a positive effect on eye and skin health. And all thanks to the high content of vitamin A. Nutritionists recommend foods rich in vitamin A for protection against eye diseases, including age-related diseases. 

  • Act like antibacterial property

Another use of cilantro is to act as an antibacterial property. Cilantro effectively fights salmonella and Enterobacteriaceae.

  • Detoxification

The most important health benefit of cilantro is the ability torid the body of heavy metals when combined with chlorella and garlic extract. Cilantro is used in the chelation of heavy metals such as lead, mercury, and aluminum from the body. It can also eliminate gas in the stomach.

  • A storehouse of vitamin K

Cilantro is a good source of vitamin K, which has been shown to slow neuronal damage in the brain in Alzheimer’s patients.

  • It has phytonutrients

Cilantro contains many beneficial substances. Among them are phytonutrients, namely borneol, camphor, geraniol, kaempferol, limonene, linalool, and others. They are powerful antioxidants designed to fight free radicals and strengthen the body’s immune system.


Conclusion

Cilantro is an annual plant with a powerful aroma that can be felt at a distance from where it grows. It has thin and branched stems, and the leaves are basal, long-petiolate, and three separate with denticles at the edges. 

The upper leaves are sessile, pinnate, with filamentous lobules. There are times when cilantro starts to smell bad, and this article gives you complete information.