Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 15.2
Continued
Plant part
used
Maximum shelf
life*
Item
Main production areas
Post-harvest treatments
Juniper (
Juniperus
communis
;
Cupressaceae)
Northern hemisphere,
Hungary, Italy
Berry
Whole dried
2-3 years
Lemon grass (
Cymbopogone
citratus
; Gramineae)
Southeast Asia, Central and
South America. Central
Africa, Caribbean,
Australia, United States
Stems and
leaves
Fresh, dried, powdered, puréed
2-3 years
Liquorice (
Glycyrrhiza
glabra
; Leguminosae)
Southeast Europe, Middle
East, Russia, Spain,
Italy, Turkey
Root
Dried or powdered root, boiled (to make liquorice sticks)
2-3 years
Mace (
Myristica fragrans
;
Myristicaceae)
Molucca, New Guinea,
Caribbean, Sri Lanka,
Indonesia
Aril enclosing
nutmeg
seed
Removed from nutmeg by hand, washed, flattened, sun or oven
dried and broken into 'blades', powdered (Krishnamoorthy &
Rema 2001)
2-3 years
Marjoram (
Oregano
majorana. O. onites
;
Labatiae)
Mediterranean, United
Kingdom, North
America
Leaves and
upper
stems
Fresh or dried, broken into small pieces. Sun, solar or freeze
dried, may be blanched by microwave radiation (Potty &
Kumar 2001)
2-3 years
Mustard (
Brassica alba,
B. juncea, B. nigra
;
Cruciferae)
Mediterranean, Canada,
Europe (
B. alba
); Italy,
Ethiopia (
B. nigra
);
China, India, Poland
(
B. juncea
)
Seed
Dried, dehusked, powdered; may be mixed with vinegar, sugar,
wine, salt, other spices
2-3 years
Nigella (
Nigella sativa
;
Ranunculaceae)
Southern Europe, west
Asia, India, Middle
East, Egypt
Seed
Dried whole
2-3 years
Nutmeg (
Myristica fragrans
;
Myristicaceae)
Molucca, New Guinea,
Caribbean, Sri Lanka,
Indonesia
Seed
Unshelled nuts sun dried for a week, seed coat removed
mechanically. Used whole, powdered, limed
(Krishnamoorthy & Rema 2001)
2-3 years
Oregano (
Origanum
vulgare
; Labiatae)
Mediterranean, United
Kingdom, North
America
Leaves and
upper
stems
Fresh or dried, broken into small pieces
2-3 years
Paprika (
Capsicum annum
;
Solanaceae)
South America, Spain,
Hungary, Turkey,
United States
Fruit
Dried, powdered or broken into small pieces
2-3 years
