Cardamom oil is extracted from Elettaria cardomomum (also known as Elettaria cardomomum var. cardomomum) of the Zingiberaceae family and is also known as cardamomi, cardomum and mysore cardomom.
OIL PROPERTIES
Cardamom oil is sweet, spicy and almost balsamic in fragrance, is clear to pale yellow in color and slightly watery in viscosity.
ORIGIN OF CARDAMOM OIL
A perennial, reed-like herb, Cardamom grows wild and is cultivated in India and Ceylon.
It grows up to 4 meters (13 feet) high and has long, green silky blades, small yellowy flowers with a violet tip and a large fleshy rhizome, similar to ginger. Oblong gray fruits follow the flowers, each containing many seeds.
Cardamom was well known in ancient times and the Egyptians used it in perfumes and incense and chewed it to whiten their teeth, while the Romans used it for their stomachs when they over-indulged.
The Arabs ground it to use their coffee and It is an important ingredient in Asian cooking. Valerius Cordus first distilled the essential oil in 1544 after the Portuguese discovered the East.
EXTRACTION
The essential oil of Cardamom is extracted by steam distillation from the seeds of the fruit gathered just before they are ripe. The yield is 1-5 %.
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
The main chemical components of cardamom oil are a-pinene, b-pinene, sabinene, myrcene, a-phellandrene, limonene, 1,8-cineole, y-terpinene, p-cymene, terpinolene, linalool, linalyl acetate, terpinen-4-oil, a-terpineol, a-terpineol acetate, citronellol, nerol, geraniol, methyl eugenol and trans-nerolidol.
PRECAUTIONS
Cardamom oil is non-toxic and non-irritant as well as non-sensitizing.
CERTIFICATION
MRT gives the product which is grown under the stringent organic standards of NPOP, NOP, and EU certification by LACON, GERMANY.
