| | One among the costliest spices, cardamom, which is also known as Malabar cardamom or small cardamom is popularly acclaimed as the 'Queen of Spices'. It is an important flavouring agent and preservative used in a variety of dishes, cakes, confectionary, cosmetics, bread beverages and medicines. It is an aromatic stimulant and carminative, which is used as masticatory in countries like Britain and United States. Cardamom finds extensive use in traditional as well as modern systems of medicine on account of its anti-carcinogenic, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant functions. Cardamom oil and its chemical constituents have no known toxic effects. Numerous essential oils present in the dried seeds of cardamom lend to it, its characteristic pleasant aroma and slightly pungent taste.
There are two types cardamom available in the market: Small cardamom and Large Cardamom. Small Cardamom or Elettaria cardamom is the most popular variety of Indian cardamom. Large cardamom or Amomum cardamom is a commercial variety of secondary importance. Small cardamom is cultivated in South India and Sri Lanka especially in the evergreen rain forests of Western Ghats spread over Kerala, Karnataka and Tamilnadu. Large cardamom is cultivated in the North Eastern regions of India in the Sub-Himalayan states of Sikkim, Assam and West Bengal. Cardamom is a shade-loving plant grown at an altitude of 600m to 1200m above MSL with an annual rainfall of 1400 to 4000mm and a temperature range of 10°C to 35°C. Small cardamom, as a commercial term, is the dried fruit of the plant. | |
