As much as you want your food items to taste good, they should smell pleasant as well. No one would ever enjoy fully their meals if they stink. It wouldn’t matter how look and taste. Even a slight impression of bad odor can ruin the whole thing. However, when it comes to herbaceous vegetables, such as coriander or cilantro, people have different opinions and disagreements regarding their smell as well as taste. Some of them exclaim that cilantro smells very gross like stink bugs while some tend to oppose the statement. Well, it isn’t too easy to tell if the cilantro actually smells like stink bugs all the time. Although sometimes they do have such gross and unpleasant smells.
What Is Cilantro?
Before we dig deep into this topic, let’s make it clear to you what cilantro is and how is it different from coriander. Cilantros are the herby leaves of the coriander that are widely used as fresh as possible for garnishing, making chutneys, or sauces. The leaves of cilantro are used as a spice in several dishes.
Apart from providing several intensifying and strong herby flavors to your food, cilantro is a great medical agent that saves you against bacteria and other pathogens.
Overall, cilantro is an ideal herb/spice. Although some people might dislike cilantro assuming that these herbs smell like stink bugs. To some extent, this piece of information is accurate.
Why Does Stink Bug Smell So Gross?
From insects to large animals to plants, each one of them has its own peculiar defense mechanism. These keep them safe from predators. Bugs such as stink bugs produce very unpleasant odors whenever they feel threatened by their surroundings. The exoskeleton on their bodies airs up and releases hostile odors so the attackers stay afar. This is a well-marginalized defense mechanism.
Why Does Cilantro Smells Like Stink Bugs?
Now many people who dislike cilantro prefer eating and spicing up their dishes with cilantro, just because they would keep stressing over the fact that cilantro smells like stink bugs.
However, it is true that sometimes, very rarely, in few herbaceous leaves of corianders – the cilantro smell like stink bugs, because they consume a small number of familiar glands like stink bugs. Due to the unexpected excretions, few leaves of cilantro start to smell so unpleasant the eaters nearly want to quit eating it.
There are chances that cilantro also uses unpleasant secretions as a line of defense. Although, research hasn’t proved this specific piece of data.
Is It Okay To Consume Cilantros That Smells Like Stink Bugs?
Cilantro is a very healthy and medically effective herb. When there are several reasons for consuming cilantro and adding it to your food diet, you shouldn’t cancel consuming these healthy herbs for a single reason.
The compound that produces stink bugs odor is also present in cilantro, but in a very little quantity. This is why your cilantro smell like stink bugs. However, it is completely fine to eat such cilantro.