Preface India, considered as the “Home of Spices” is one of the major spice producing and exporting countries of the world contributing about 20 - 25 % of the world trade in spices. Besides, huge quantities of spices are also consumed within the Country for seasoning foods and for other purposes. Out of the 109 spices recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) world over, 52 are grown in India and promoted by Spices Board. In view of the potential demand for quality spices globally, research and development programmes have been intensified in the Country. There is increasing interest in industry, academia and health sciences for spices. Despite the tremendous scope of spices, we do not have a comprehensive publication which includes information on all the 52 spices. This book on ‘Spices’ brings together the currently scattered knowledge on all aspects of spices – botany, crop improvement, chemistry, production technology, pests and diseases, harvesting, processing, products and uses. We have tried to collect and collate as much as information as possible about the aforesaid spices. The book is organized into six chapters as introduction, major spices, tree spices, seed spices, herbal spices and other spices. Major, tree and seed spices have been dealt in detail whereas herbal and other spices in which information available is scanty are discussed in brief.  This book is not claimed to be very exhaustive by any means. The authors are fully conscious of their limitations due to paucity of space. For more detailed information, the interested reader can refer the bibliography given at the end.

The term ‘Spices and Condiments’ applies to such natural plant or vegetable products or mixtures thereof, used in whole or ground form, mainly for imparting flavour, aroma and pungency to food. They are low volume high value crops which play a pivotal role in our national economy and provide a strong footing in the international market. According to the latest report of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), there are about 109 spices grown in different parts of the world. India grows about 52 of them. The list of those spices with botanical and English names which come under the purview of Spices, Board, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India is given in Table 1.

Black pepper, christened as “King of spices” and “Black gold” is the most important and the most widely used spice in the world occupying a position that is supreme and unique. It was the lure of Indian pepper that brought the western world to Indian sub continent. The black pepper of commerce is the dried mature fruit of the tropical perennial climbing plant Piper nigrum. Pepper originated in the tropical evergreen forests of the Western Ghats. The Malabar coast of India was the centre of pepper trade from time immemorial. Black pepper was essentially a minor forest produce in the past, people collected it from forests where it abundened. Domestication of pepper appears to be a much later event. The recorded history shows that Arabs, followed by the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British traders took pepper to all over the world and spread its use and cultivation. Initially black pepper was taken from the Malabar coast to the Indonesian islands, then it spread to various Pacific islands, South East Asian countries and later to tropical Africa and America. Currently, pepper is grown in about 26 countries, major being India, Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia and Srilanka. In India, pepper is grown mainly in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and to a little extent in Goa, Orissa, Assam and Andaman group of islands. Kerala is the original home of pepper. This state accounts for 95% of country’s area and production.

Myristica fragrans Houtt., the nutmeg tree is unique among spice plants as the donor of two distinct spices; nutmeg and mace.Native of Indonesia (Moluccas islands), nutmeg tree grows there abundantly and is now naturalised in West Indies, Srilanka, India, Phillipines, Tropical America and Pacific Islands. (Varghese, 2000). In India, the plant is grown in certain pockets of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, North East India and Andamans (Krishnamoorthy, 2000). It is also grown in a small scale in Srilanka, Trinidad, China, Tobago, Zanzibar and Mauritius.

Coriander is used by man since long as coriander seeds were found in Egyptian tombs of 960 BC. Further, Persia grew coriander 3,000 years ago and it added fragrance to Hanging Gardens of Babylon. In 3rd century BC, Romans also found coriander seed as an excellent seasoning for popular foods. Besides seeds, fresh leaves are being used for garnishing of food in many Latin American, Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Indian dishes since long. Fresh coriander leaves are also known as Chinese Parsely. In India, coriander seed is used almost daily in scores of curries for flavouring and leaves for garnishing. Coriander is a native of Mediterranean region.

Marjoram is native of Southern Europe. It grows in West Asia, South and North America, France, Germany, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, England and North Africa. It is an important kitchen herb and its dried leaves with or without flowering tops in small proportion constitute the spice of commerce. In India, the crop finds its cultivation only in small scale in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. France and Egypt are the main exporters of marjoram oil in the world. Botany and chemical composition Marjorana hortensis is an aromatic branched perennial, 30-60 cm high. Though a perennial, it is treated as an annual under cultivation. Main stem is woody with many softer branches. Leaves are round, soft, mat green and with a marvelous sweet smell. Flowers small, whitish or purplish in terminal clusters, seeds minute, oval and dark brown in colour.

Garlic is recognized all over the world as a valuable condiment for food and medicine. It is a native of Western Asia and Mediterranean area where it is in cultivation for centuries. China, Korea, India, USA, Spain, Argentina and Egypt are the major garlic growing countries, China being the largest producer (Pandey, 2004). Europeans, especially the Italians and the Spanish used this spice regularly for 2000 years and more. Garlic is one of the important spicy bulbs grown commercially in India. The plant is cultivated in temperate and tropical climates. Important states producing garlic on commercial scale are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. Demand of garlic is increasing day by day in domestic and export markets. Garlic and garlic products, especially dehydrated garlic and garlic powder are gaining considerable economic importance recent times.

References Abraham, C. C. and Skaria, B. P. 1995. New record of the root borer Zeuzera coffeae Nietner (Cossidae:Lepidoptera) as a pest of allspice (Pimenta dioica Linn.) Merril. Insect Environment 1(1): 6 Abraham, G. 2001. Increasing productivity of mustard (Brassica juncea) through split application of sulphur. Ind. J. agric. Sci. 71(10): 674-675 Abraham, Z., Mithal, S. K. and Gautam, P. L. 1999. Genetic resources of Garcinia species at NBPGR Regional Station, Thrissur, Kerala, India. (In): Biodiversity, Consersvation and Utilization of Spices,  Medicinal  and Aromatic Plants. Indian Institute of Spices Research, Kozhikode, pp. 131-133 Adaniya, S. 1998. Variation in pollen fertility and germinability in ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) J. Japanese Soc. Hort. Sci. 67: 872-874 Agrawal, S., Sharma, R. K., Bhatt, B. N. and Agrawal, S. 1990. Quality evaluation in coriander. Indian Cocoa, Arecanut, and Spice J. 13(4): 137-138 Ahmed, M. A., Hussein, M. S. and El-Sherbeny, S. E. 1989. Yield analysis of fenugreek plants. African J. Agrl. Sci. 16(1-2): 163-172 Ahmed-Shah, H., Vedamuthu, P. G. B., Abdul-khader, M. D. and Prakasam, V. 1988. Influence of different levels of potassium on yield and curcumin content of turmeric. Proceeding of  National Seminar on Chillies, Ginger and Turmeric. APAU, Hyderabad, pp. 109-113