Cardamom finds extensive use in Scandinavian and Indian cuisine. It is sweet and aromatic and is very pleasant It is found in Asian countries and also Australia depending on the type. It is one of the most expensive spice after saffron and vanilla. Malabar and the Guatemalan varieties of the cardamom are the major commercial varieties.


Cardamom is usually grouped into two main groups:

• Small cardamom( chhota elaichi) or true cardamom
• Large cardamom (bara elaichi).

In terms of commerce former is more important and more popular than the latter. It is often called as "Queen of Spices".

Description
Cardamom is a small spice that have seeds embedded in pods. Seeds are brown-black in appearance and are sticky. They are arranged in pods in rows containing nearly six seeds in each row. The size of the cardamom vary from 5mm to 20 mm. The smaller variety is green whereas the larger variety is black. White-bleached pods are also available. The shape of the pod is oval and oblate. One can buy either whole pod or split pod. The seed are sold as loose or ground. However as ground seed quickly looses the aroma hence it is advisable to buy whole pods.

Cultivation
Cardamoms are usually cultivated in less dense tropical rain forests. They are also grown in plantation cultivation. The undergrowth of the forest is cleared and the tree is thinned to in order give enough shade. The rhizome or seeds are planted at 3m intervals. Plants are harvested before they are ripen in order to avoid the capsules splitting during drying. After being harvested the fruits are dried in the sun or bleached with sulphur fumes.

Origin
South India and Srilanka are the major producers of Cardamom. Cardamom produce here is of very good quality. They have good aroma. However despite India is one the largest producer they export less because of the domestic demand. Major exporting country is Guatemala.

Substitutes Of True Cardamom
Some of the cardamoms that comes very close to true cardamom in flavor and aroma are: Siam cardamom- Peninsular South East Asia Amomum krervanh- Peninsular South East Asia Round Cardamom(Java Cardamom)- Indonesia

Chemical Composition
The main constituent of cardamom is essential oil. The oil consist of following ingredients a-terpineol 45%, myrcene 27%, limonene 8%, menthone 6%, ß-phellandrene 3%, 1,8-cineol 2%, sabinene 2% and heptane 2%.

Types of Cardamom
Green Cardamom (Eletarria), also known as True or Small Cardamom is found in east Asian countries including India and Malaysia.

Black Cardamom (Amomum), also known as Java or Siamese Cardamom is found in Australia and Asia.

Madagascar Cardamom (Aframomum) is found in Africa and Madagascar.

Grades
The important grades of Cardamom that are exported and traded worldwide are:

• Green Pods (Dried artificially in hot rooms)
• Sun-dried pods (Sun Dried)
• Bleached (Bleached pods)
• Decorticated (hulled seeds)

Sun dried and green pods account for about 85 % of the world export market.

Trade in Cardamom Spice
Global Scenario
Guatemala, India, Sri Lanka, Indo China and Tanzania are the major producers. Both black and green cardamom are extensively grown for exports. Guatemala supplies nearly two-thirds of the total world production. Saudi Arabia is the largest consumer of this spice, followed by Kuwait. The use of cardamom oil and oleoresins is also on the rise in the international market.

Indian Scenario
It is cultivated and grown in the forests of the western ghats in Southern India, where it grows wild. Indian Cardamom is more aromatic and hence in huge demand. The southern states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu are the major growing areas in India. Kerala accounts for nearly 70% of the total production. India consumed almost 90% of the spice production and the remaining 10% is exported to countries including Saudi Arabia, Japan etc.

Uses of Cardamom spice
Medicinal Use
It is used as a stimulant, for indigestion and flatulence. It is also sometimes considered to be an aphrodisiac in traditional systems of medicine.

Beverages
It is widely used in flavoring drinks including milk shakes, tea.

Food Processing
The spice is also used for aroma and flavoring of a variety of food products including biscuits, ice cream and milk shake powders, cakes, confectionery, candies etc.