Tag: Oregano essential oil

While most people are familiar with oregano as a pizza topping, this herb has been used for thousands of years for both culinary and medicinal purposes. The critical question of 'can oregano be ingested?' depends entirely on the form it is in, with vastly different safety profiles for dried leaves, oil extracts, and highly concentrated essential oils.

Over 23,000 terpene structures have been identified in higher plants, and among them is thymol, a powerful compound most famously found in thyme essential oil. However, thymol's presence isn't exclusive to thyme, and several other essential oils contain significant amounts of this natural phenol, prized for its strong antiseptic and antimicrobial properties.

Oregano is a flavorful herb common in Mediterranean dishes, but the question of whether it's safe to ingest oregano is more complex than it appears. While adding the culinary herb to your meals is generally harmless, concentrated medicinal forms require significant caution.