This piece comes from a time when food science was relatively new, so please don’t use it in place of the latest discoveries regarding spices and food preservation.
In the article (written in 1912), cinnamon rules supreme for food preservation.
The Value of Spices
Experiments that have been conducted recently with a view to determining the preservative value of various spices and condiments seem to establish the fact that certain spices have a marked preservative effect on foods.
Cinnamon, for instance, is found to be a more powerful enemy of ferments than benzoic acid and at the same time quite harmless. Other condiments that are useful as preservatives are cloves and mustard, with nutmeg and allspice effective in somewhat less degree.
On the other hand such drastic condiments as ginger, black pepper and cayenne pepper do not hinder the growth of germs.
Thus is appears that cinnamon, cloves, mustard, nutmeg and allspice may be used with good advantage in seasoning foods, since they are not only palatable, but also exert a good effect on the food itself.
Ginger and pepper, on the other hand, may well be avoided, since they do not exert any good effects on the food and are irritating to the stomach.
Source: The Day Book (Chicago, Illinois newspaper). June 26, 1912.
