Cardamom known to be as queen of spices as opposed to black pepper. Hailed as “King of spices known to the world”. It,s originally came from wild plants in the western Ghat s in southern India. Ancient Egyptians used cardamom for many medicinal purposes. Greek and romans used cardamom for it’s pungent aroma.
Sometimes it’s spelt as cardamom or cardamum. This’s a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the “Genera Elettaria” and amomum in the family of “Zingiberaceae”. As a primary product Cardamom is generally available in the form of whole fruit. It can traded in the form of dried fruit or cardamom pod as spice as well. Secondary level product is processed as grounded form. And also, in the form of extractions of oil & oleoresin as value added products. Due to the unique flavor of green cardamom cultivated in Sri Lanka, formed by the country’s unique terroir. Green cardamom produced in Sri Lanka is known as Ceylon Cardamom. There are mainly three types of cardamom are found in Sri Lanka as, Whole cardamom, Ground cardamom, and cardamom oil. And they are categorized based on shape of the inflorescence.
- Malabar – Inflorescence is prostrate
- Mysore – Inflorescence is vertical
- Vazhukka – Inflorescence is inclined
