Ginger

One of the 5 most important spices of India

Major producing countries India, Jamaica, Sierra Leone, Nigeria,
Southern China, Nepal, Pakistan, Japan, Taiwan etc.,
Ginger (Gingiber officinale) belongs to zingiberacea family
Flowering oct till dec and harvest is peak at Nov.
Harvest period-7-9 months (early harvest 24 26 weeks)
Leaf turns yellow and pseudo stem begins to dry

7th month high starch and low fiber

8th month dry ginger recovery high
Lifted with hand fork

Curing
Green ginger or dried ginger
Dried ginger fresh ginger cleaning
Soaking in hot water facilitate skin removal
Scrap off Sharpened bamboo
Dried 3-4 days
Soak the peeled ginger in 2% lime water solution for 6 h appearance
Drying 70% weight loss (7-12% moisture)
Artificial drying dark color with a burnt flavor
Sun drying bleaching
Essential oil epidermal cells skillful scrapping is essential

Grading
Size, dry matter and fibre content
1st grade bold and round bits; max. dry matter and low fibre content
2nd grade bits of bold, round to oblong
3and 4th grade - max. fibre content and low dry matter
3- 4 months pits storage
8-12 months 10-15C and 45-55 % RH & (75% RH 4 to 8 weeks)
EO & oleoresin increase with storage

Tumeric
Native India and China
Haiti, Jamaica, Peru, Bangladesh etc.,
Cultivation Orissa, AP, West Bengal & limited North eastern hills
Production 3,00,000 MT per annum; export 11500 MT
Harvest when leaves turn yellow (mid Nov mid Dec)
Maturation period 8-9 months (37 weeks)
Oleoresin 29 weeks
Dried in shade for 2-3 days

Curing
Turmeric
Fingers and rhizomes boiled separately (30 to 45 min) until the froth
and characteristic fumes appear
Dried 10-15 days (hard and dry) metallic sound
Polishing (hand or mechanical)
CFTRI method boiled in lime water and sodium bicarbonate
Water solution - 20 g of (sodium bisulphate and sodium bicarbonate)
each per 40 kg of curing material
Earlier method cow dung + lead chromate

Cumin

Cumin (cuminum cyninum L) minor spice

Production 1.5 lac MT ; export 4600 MT
Harvesting period 4 months (green to brown)
Threshing and winnowing whole plant
Drying sun drying 10%
Essential oil 2.5 4.5 %
Chief constituent cuminaldehyde
Adulteration synthetic cuminaldehyde - rise in optical rotation
Fixed oil 10 %
Black cumin- 45-60% carvone, d-limonene and cymene
Stabilizing agent for edible fats

Coriander
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L)
Family Umbelliferae
2 types of leaves smaller leaves seeds
Half to two third maturity harvest is must
Harvesting 90-150 days
Moisture content 6 %
Artificial 80-90C
Coriander flavoring 33% of volatile oil
Soluble coriander superesin 3% in soluble dry edible carrier

Cinnamon

Cinnamomum zelanicum Blume

Bark delicate fragrance and agreeable taste
Native south west tropical India and Srilanka
Curing of bark
Cutting the branches of right size and shape
Scraping outer corky layer
Peeling and skillfully removing the bark from inner wood
Piping (quills, quillings, feathering and chips)

Fenugreek
Trigonella foenum-graecum L
Ash pod 10-12 small hard yellowish brown seeds
Smooth oblong seeds 3 mm long
Crop 50-60 days for flowering
Harvesting after flowering 80-90 days

Clove

Cloves are the unopened flower buds of the evergreen tree Eugenia caryophyllus
1st harvested 6 - 8 years old
Green leaves (the calyx) of the flower bud change from olive green to yellow pink
Must be dried quickly or they will start to ferment
Pale russet to a darker brown
Dried cloves should be 8-10%
pale brown khuker
Bud oil is derived from the flower-buds of S. aromaticum. It consists of 6090%
eugenol, eugenyl acetate, caryophyllene and other minor constituents.
Leaf oil is derived from the leaves of S. aromaticum. It consists of 8288%
eugenol with little or no eugenyl acetate, and minor constituents.
Stem oil is derived from the twigs of S. aromaticum. It consists of 9095%
eugenol, with other minor constituents.

Garlic
India leading producer of Allium sativam
Major growing areas are USA, China, Egypt, Korea, Russia and India
Production - 1061.85 thousand tons
Harvesting period -130-140 days
Whole plants - dark, dry, well-ventilated area for drying and curing of
the bulbs.
Equipment's - Garlic Grader, Garlic bulb breaker, Garlic clove flaker,
Dry Garlic peel remover (de-skinner), Fresh Garlic clove peeler

Vanilla
Curing should preferably begin immediately after harvesting, but the
beans can be stored for 3-5 days.
There are different methods of curing but they all consist of more or
less four stages.
Killing the beans to allow the onset of enzymatic action.
Sweating, for raising the temperature to promote enzymatic action and
enhance rapid drying for preventing fermentation.
Slow drying for development of fragrance.
Conditioning the product by storing for a few months in closed boxes

Mexican Process, Bourbon Process, Peruvian Process and Guiana

Process

 Mexican process sun dying 5 h initiate killing process

Bourbon process 63-65C for 3 min killing process
Blanket covered wooden box chocolate brown colour following day
Spread in sun 3-4 h
Repeat the process 6-8 days
Drying wooden trays shade 10-15 days
Packed in glass bottle fragrance is fully developed
Cured vanilla bean 2.5 % vanillin

S.no.

Spice

Active compounds

Pepper

Piperine, -Caryophyllene, Chavicin, perperidine and

piperetine

Green Cardamom

1,8-cineole, -terpinyl acetate, Limonene and myrcene

Black Cardamom

Ginger

Gingerol, Shogaol, Citral, (-) zingiberene, ar-Curcumene

Turmeric

Curcumin, ar-Turmerone, Bisdemethoxycurcumin,

Demethoxycurcumin

Cumin

Cuminaldehyde, -Pinene, cis--Farnesene

Black cumin

Carvone, d-limonene and cymene

Coriander

Linalool, borneol, linalool, cineole, cymene, terpineol,

dipentene, phellandrene, pinene and terpinolene

Fenugreek

Diosgenin

10

Clove

Eugenol, Eugenyl acetate

11

Garlic

Aliin, allicin, ajoene, allylpropl, diallyl, trisulfide,

sallylcysteine, vinyldithiines, S-allylmercaptocystein

12

Vanilla

Vanillin

13

Cinnamon

Eugenol, Benzyl benzoate, Cinnamaldehyde