Talk:Bay leaf

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is it true that bay leaves will repll ants

I'm not sure about ants but bay leaf will repel moths. Zoobtoob 01:43, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

What about roaches? 8472

poisonous

"Bay leaves have been said to be poisonous, but this has never been proven." (0423, 7 Dec 2005)

Anybody have a cite for this? I've never heard this before; it may be a reference to the fact that the leaf itself is sharp and dangerous, but not poisonous. In any case, proper style includes identifying who is doing the saying.

I'm going to add a not verified tag to the top, and hopefully we can get a source one way or the other. --Superluser 01:13, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

I removed the statement. I believe it comes from the fact that Prunus laurocerasus or Cherry laurel is poisonous, but this is a different plant in a different family which takes its name from its resemblance to Laurus nobilis. Cherry laurel leaves contain significant levels of cyanide, enough to be dangerous. -- WormRunner 02:37, 27 August 2006 (UTC)

bay leaves are a type of laurel leaves.January 29, 2008

I fixed some of the formatting (sentences oughtn't to start with 'however') but it's still unreferenced. Dysleeper 01:42, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

If laurel leaves are are crushed in a sealed container(kill jar)they produce enough toxin to kill insects within minutes. A method used in the past by many insect collectors. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.233.59.199 (talk) 19:51, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

I'd like to see a citation for the "sharp and dangerous" claim. I can find a lot of people saying that, including the present article, but no credible reports of anyone actually receiving an injury of the type contemplated. That's the characteristic pattern of an urban legend. 216.59.249.45 (talk) 02:22, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

The phrase "sharp and dangerous" does not appear in this article. The idea that the leaves are removed because they remain stiff after cooking and are "culinarily unacceptable" is sourced from the Straight Dope article. I'm not sure what else you want. - AgentSeven 06:14, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

This article says that bay leaves are used in killing jars. However, the Killing jar article says that it is cherry laural leaves that are used. That is what I had thought were used, and it seems more likely that it would be a leaf that you shouldn't eat because its poisonous that is used, rather than a leaf that is used in cooking. Wardog (talk) 16:44, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for the reference. I had not noticed that. However, my source quite definitely referred to "laurel leaves". It is a highly reliable source, so I was not in much doubt, but I decided that some more definite refs were needed, so I went hunting. It is my bed time mow, (or past!) but I'll come back with more details. Sufice to say for now, both trees are ex0licitly referred to, sometimes in the same book. As for their production of cyanide, I had long wondered, but now I wonder harder. More next time! JonRichfield (talk) 19:33, 9 May 2012 (UTC)

OK, tks for patience. This is still a bit hurried, but I found several refs. There is no doubt that both the Prunus and the Laurus have been used, including both referred to explicitly in the same book in some places. However, I happen personally to be very interested in the mechanism of the Prunus effect, and if all the refs were equally reliable, I can guarantee that they don't (primarily) work the same way. (I have not used either, being an ethyl acetate man myself, (or nowadays, no longer collecting actively, a freezer man). The Prunus gives off HCN, and must be used fresh. The Laurus is SAID to work the same way, but some sources specify that it also gives off HCN, which FAIK it might, but some also say that the leves go on working for months. IF this is true, then it is not only HCN for dead sure! Then it must be partly a stunning effect of essential oils. Bye now! JonRichfield (talk) 16:12, 10 May 2012 (UTC)

I think the confusion comes about because in Britain the terms "bay leaf" and "bay tree" are commonly used in gardening and cooking for the sweet laurel, while "laurel" is regularly used for the cherry laurel. So all those houses called "The Laurels" generally have lots of cherry laurels growing in the garden, not the sweet laurels used in cooking. Of course, even in Britain, people speak about "laurel wreaths", meaning the sweet laurel or classical laurel. I know this all sounds a bit pedantic, but I had to get used to it when I arrived in this country and so now I'm inflicting it on you lot82.27.181.141 (talk) 11:53, 12 February 2018 (UTC)!

psychoactive?

Whoever wrote this article put that some people reported smoking bay leafs produced a psychoactive effect? Where is the source? I really doubt that is true. }} —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.134.137.37 (talk)

Parasitic

I think some in the laurel family are parasitic. Should tis be mentioned in the facts part? Treebearded (talk) 11:50, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject Food and drink Tagging

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Crushed vs Whole

"Crushed bay leaves impart more of their desired fragrance than whole leaves, and there is less chance of biting into a leaf directly."

Huh? This doesn't make sense. When using crushed leaves in a dish, there is more chance of biting into a leaf directly, because they are more evenly distributed. Whole leaves are easier to avoid biting into because you can easily pick them out. Dforest (talk) 06:28, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

Arab World's uses

The Bay leaf is known through out the Arab world as "ورق الغار" or "ورق اللورة" & It's used in various food recipes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Serag4000 (talk • contribs) 11:37, 10 November 2009 (UTC)

Link to other languages

I have changed the link to the Dutch Language article to 'laurier' as it was pointing to daun salam (Indonesian Laurel). Which isn't the same. I think even the English language article mentions this.Breiz (talk) 22:07, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

bay leaf

bay leafs stink — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.163.15.101 (talk) 19:04, 28 January 2016 (UTC)

wikiproject

I need help with my essential oil wikiproject please. Wikipedia:WikiProject Essential Oils Ilikeguys21 (talk) 13:08, 27 April 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ilikeguys21 (talk • contribs)

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Redundant Citation Links

There is redundant citation links in this article referring to where bay leafs will repel pantry moths and the rest of the sources also show no evidence of such Aubreywak (talk) 00:40, 10 February 2021 (UTC)

medicinal uses

Apparently, bay leaf has a number of medicinal uses. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7152419/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by Michaelhurwicz (talk • contribs) 20:04, 16 November 2023 (UTC)

Killing jar reference confuses species

The page describes the use of Bay leaves in killing jars, but the page for killing jars describes the use of cherry laurel, with which this page has been marked as 'not to be confused with'.

Cherry laurels apparently work for this purpose because of producing hydrogen cyanide, something I imagine culinary bay leaves do not do. I may be wrong. Tmutimer (talk) 23:54, 28 October 2024 (UTC)