Nutrition and buying tips: Oregano

Below are average values per 1 tsp (1g) of dried oregano leaves

Proximates
Water 0.10g
Energy 3kcal
Protein 0.09g
Total lipid (fat) 0.04g
Carbohydrate, by difference 0.69g
Fiber, total dietary 0.4g
Sugars, total 0.04g

Minerals
Calcium, Ca 16mg
Iron, Fe 0.37mg
Magnesium, Mg 3mg
Phosphorus, P 1mg
Potassium, K 13mg
Sodium, Na 0mg
Zinc, Zn 0.03mg

Vitamins
Vitamin C, total ascorbic acid 0.0mg
Thiamin 0.002mg
Riboflavin 0.005mg
Niacin 0.046mg
Vitamin B-6 0.010mg
Folate, DFE 2µg
Vitamin B-12 0.00µg
Vitamin A, RAE 1µg
Vitamin A, IU 171IU
Vitamin E, 0.18mg
Vitamin D (D2 + D3) 0.0µg
Vitamin D 0IU
Vitamin K 6.2µg

Lipids
Fatty acids, total saturated 0.016g
Fatty acids, total monounsaturated 0.007g
Fatty acids, total polyunsaturated 0.014g
Fatty acids, total trans 0.000g
Cholesterol 0mg

Tips on buying quality Oregano

Oregano is a herb, and often sold as flakes, which are extremely easy to dilute. In fact, most flakes sold as Oregano are actually Olive leave flakes! They look similar (slightly darker), have a similar weight, but zero oregano flavour and aroma. They’re simply much cheaper, and easier to mix and sell as “Oregano”. Selling whole dried oregano leaves is often not possible, because they’re much too light, and often used as flakes anyway. The one exception is buying fresh leaves.

In order to find the best grade dried Oregano, a good smell test is necessary. First, make sure your oregano flakes are very light coloured. Then, try to separate the darker coloured flakes from the light coloured ones. Both colours should smell the same, and should smell like Oregano! You would be surprised how easy it is to find “fake” oregano leaves this way.

If you have access to lab equipment, testing the volatile oil % is a surefire way to tell whether you have good oregano. New season Oregano should have at least 2.5% volatile oil, in rare cases reaching 3% or more if it has been extremely well kept and is very new from the best origin. Anything below 2% and you can be sure there has been some blending to keep costs low.

Our price for Oregano today:

20G (0.71 OZ) HKD 28
50G (1.8 OZ) HKD 48
200G (7.1 OZ) HKD 108
500G (17.6 OZ) HKD 152
1KG WHOLESALE PACK** HKD 200