Marjoram

Food · Pantry & Condiment · Food, Typed Supps

A teaspoon is about a gram, so divide everything in the table by a hundred.

Stage by stage

Intake (Oil glands ruptured): Chopping breaks the leaf's glandular trichomes and releases the volatile oils.
Cooking (Lipophilic partitioning): The terpenes dissolve into fat and evaporate with prolonged heat, so timing of addition matters.
Absorption (Minor micronutrient uptake): The vitamins and minerals present are absorbed normally but arrive in trivial quantities.
Systemic (Negligible exposure): At a gram or two per dish there is no measurable nutritional effect.

Time to effect

Not applicable: At the quantities used in cooking there is no nutritional effect on any timescale.

Allergens

None of the fourteen major allergens. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Keto, Gluten-free. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Beta-carotene
Volatile oils
Vitamin K

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 95
Protein: 3.3g
Carbohydrate: 0.6g
of which sugars: 0.4g
Fat: 5.9g
of which saturated: 2.7g
Fibre: 14.1g
Sodium: 26mg

Food vs. supplement

Marjoram extract capsules are sold for hormonal and digestive complaints on evidence that is thin to absent, and the extract is a far higher exposure than any culinary use. The leaf itself has one honest role: making low-salt food taste of something, which is a real and underrated benefit.

Kitchen tip

Add fresh marjoram in the last minute or two of cooking. Its signature compounds are among the more volatile in the herb cupboard and a long simmer drives them off, leaving a flat, faintly bitter background. Dried marjoram is the exception and should go in early to rehydrate. Use about a third as much dried as fresh.

Common myth

"Herbs are among the most antioxidant-rich foods you can eat." In reality: True per 100g and misleading per serving. At the gram or two a dish actually uses, a herb contributes less than a piece of ordinary fruit, and the antioxidant capacity measure behind those rankings was withdrawn by the USDA as not predictive of anything in the body.