Chaste Tree (Vitex agnus-castus L.)

 

Dried chaste tree fruits

   

Used plant part

Fruits.

Plant family

Verbenaceae (vervain family).

Sensoric quality

Aromatic, but weak aroma; slightly pungent and bitter taste.

Main constituents

Blue and white flowers of chaste tree

The dried fruits contain only small amounts (0.5%) of essential oil, which is dominated by the monoterpene derivatives limonene, 1,8-cineol, bornyl acetate, alpha- and beta-pinene and sabinene. The bitter-adstringent taste is caused by flavonoids (castican, orientin and isovitexin) and iridoid glycosides (agnuside, aucubin).

Origin

Mediterranean.

Etymology

The associations with monks (the German name translates to "monk's pepper") and chaste in the names of this tree are probably ironic, since it has been used as an aphrodisiac - certainly with poor results.

Chaste tree (sterile plant)

The genus name vitex allegedly derived from Latin vitilis "made by plaiting", because the flexible branches of the tree were used in the construction of plaited fences.

Dried chaste tree berries have been used, in small scale, as a pepper substitute, but the taste is really rather weak. They might, though, have some merits in spice mixtures for barbecued or fried meat. Maybe some readers will find other useful applications.

Today, chaste tree berries are nearly forgotten, but they may appear in spice mixtures from Morocco (ras el hanout, see cubeb pepper). See also sichuan pepper for a discussion of hotness and pungency.

Chaste tree flower cluster