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Consumers prefer bold capsules with uniform size having its original dark green
colour. The produce should be free from fungal growth, dust particles or any foreign
materials. The cardamom should be dried properly. There should not be any smokey
smell and charred appearance. In general, clean and hygienic products with good
appearance are preferred in the market. The natural colour, flavour and its aroma
are lost due to mismanagement and defective ways of handling during the course of
harvesting, curing, packing and storing
The different methods of processing include Sun-drying , Artificial
drying and Bleaching. The important products are oleoresins and seed powder.
Sun-drying
Capsules are dried directly under sunlight for five to six days or more. Frequent
turning is done. This method can result in surface blemishes and may not give an
attractive green colour. This method is practiced if the cultivar yields fruits
that turn yellow before they are ready for picking and where facilities for green
curing are not available.
Artificial drying
Processing of capsules is done in specially built curing houses. The harvested capsules
are washed in water to remove dust and soil particles. Then they are spread on wire
net trays in curing chamber. Burning firewood in the iron kiln produces heat required
for drying. The heat thus produced is passed through pipes made of galvanized iron
sheets. The process of drying takes about 18-24 hours, depending on the ambie,nt
temperature. The capsules are spread thinly in the wire net trays and stirred frequ
ently to ensure uniform drying. They are initially heated at 50 ºC for the
first 4 hours and heat is then reduced to 45 ºC by opening ventilators and
operating exhaust fans till the capsules are properly dried. Finally the temperature
is raised to 60ºC for an hour.
The dried capsules are rubbed on wire mesh to remove the stalk and dried portion
of flower from the capsules and then graded according to size by passing through
sieves of sizes of 7, 6.5, 6 mm etc. The graded produce is stored in polythene lined
gunny bags to retain the green colour during storage and also to avoid exposure
to moisture.
A relatively new innovation in the curing procedure is blanching by soaking the
fruits in 2.0 per cent washing soda for 10 minutes prior to drying. This inhibits
colour loss during drying operation and extends colour retention during subsequent
storage from three months to ten months.
Bleaching
A proportion of the crop is bleached after sun drying by exposing the capsules to
fumes from burning sulphur to get uniform colour and appearance. Steeping capsules
in a dilute solution of potassium metabisulphite solution induces a slight improvement
in keeping quality.
Oleoresin
Solvent extraction of ground spice yields 10 per cent oleoresin. Cardamom oleoresin
is used for flavouring food after being dispersed in salt, flour etc. One kilogram
of oleoresin replaces 20 kg ground spice.
Decorticated seeds / seed powder
Decorticated seeds command a lower price due to rapid loss of volatile oil during
storage and transportation. Seed powder is marketed to a limited extent.
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