Cardamom Essential Oil

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is a perennial, herbaceous rhizomatous monocot, belonging to the family Zingiberaceae. It is a native of the moist evergreen forests of the Western Ghats of South India. The cardamom of commerce is the dried ripe fruit (capsule) of the cardamom plant. This is often referred to as the 'Queen of Spices' because of its very pleasant aroma and taste and is highly valued from ancient times. It is grown extensively in the hilly regions of South India at elevations of 600-1300 m as an under crop in forest lands. Cardamom is also grown in Sri Lanka, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania and Guatemala. Guatemala is incidentally the largest producer of cardamom now.

Cardamom is a major spice crop of India and improvement of the crop has attracted considerable attention after independence. The 'Western Ghat forests' of the Malabar Coast of India is the centre of origin and the primary centre of diversity of cardamom. In ancient days, cardamom was collected mainly by tribal people as a forest produce. Later, by the end of 19" century, cardamom plantations came up in Western Ghat forest areas and also in Ceylon (Sri Lanka). The credit for starting organized cultivation of cardamom goes to the British planters. Later cardamom was introduced to Guatemala from Ceylon by 1920s and after the second world war cardamom production in Guatemala expanded considerably and by 1970s the country became the largest commercial producer of cardamom eclipsing the monopoly of India.

Cardamom oil is produced commercially using crushed fruits. It is used mainly as an alternative to the spice for flavouring a wide range of processed and frozen foods, condiments, gelatines and beverages. It is also used to a minor extent as tobacco flavouring, and in cosmetics, soaps, lotions and perfumes. Oleoresin is used as an oil substitute in similar products.