Not only are wines good for your heart, but adding herbs and spices can also render wine a good shield against bacterial infections. David Biello summarized some of them in his entry on the chemistry of wine:
[snip]…simply adding oregano leaves to either white or red wine can protect against bacteria such as Escherica coli or Salmonella enterica when applied to food. The oregano leaves contain carvacrol, which disrupts the bacteria’s cell walls.
Other spices such as cloves, cinammon and lemongrass also add to the antimicrobial properties of alcohol, making it an ideal preservative or marinade. They say it can also be …read more