Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Pepper (
Piper nigrum
;
Piperaceae)
India, Cambodia, Brazil,
Caribbean, Southeast
Asia
Ripe (skin
removed
- white)
or unripe
(black or
green)
fruit
Harvested spikes kept in bags overnight for brief fermentation
to ease despiking. Spikes threshed by hand or trampled
underfoot, peppercorns then sun dried 7-10 days (black),
powdered or soaked to remove skin and dried (white) before
further industrial processing (Ravindran & Kallupurackal
2001); fresh peppercorns preserved in brine or vinegar,
mashed into paste, freeze dried, powdered (green)
2-3 years
Pepper or Brazilian
peppertree (
Schinus
terebinthifolius
;
Anacardiaceae)
South America
Near-ripe
fruit
(pink)
Pickled or dried
4 years
Poppy (
Papaver
somniferum
;
Papaveraceae)
Middle East, China, India,
Southeast Asia,
Germany
Seed
Dried, whole
2-3 years
Saffron (
Crocus sativus
;
Iridaceae)
Mediterranean, Spain,
India, Turkey, Iran,
China
Stigma
Dried in sun (Iran), over charcoal embers (Spain) or fan oven at
30°C for 34 h (New Zealand), powdered (Velasco-
Negueruela 2001)
3 years
Sesame (
Sesamum indicum
;
Pedaliaceae)
India, China, Middle East,
Far East, Africa, United
States, Mexico
Seed
Dried, whole or powdered and made into paste (tahine)
2-3 years
Soy (
Glycine max
;
Leguminosae)
China, Japan, Korea, India,
Africa, United States
Seed
Fermented, mashed and combined with other flavourings -
made into sauce, paste, tofu, bean curd, miso; canned or
sprouted (mung bean)
2 years for soy
sauce
Star anise (
Illicium verum
;
Illiciaceae)
China, Southeast Asia
Fruit
Sun dried, whole or ground
18 months
Sumac (
Rhus coriaria
;
Anacardiaceae)
Mediterranean, Italy, Sicily,
Iran, Turkey, Middle
East
Seed
Dried, whole or powder
2-3 years
Tamarind (
Tamarindus
indica
; Leguuminosae)
India, south-central Asia,
Africa, Caribbean
Pods
Pulp separated from seeds and fibres and sun dried, compressed
into blocks, syrup, paste (Rao & Mathew 2001)
Indefinitely
Turmeric (
Curcuma
domestica, C. longa
;
Zingiberaceae)
Southeast Asia, India, Sri
Lanka, Java, China,
Peru, Caribbean, Africa,
Australia
Rhizome
Boiled in mild alkali for 40-60 min, sun dried for 10-15 days,
polished, peeled and ground. Cured product may be stored
for up to one year in pits in India (Sasikumar 2001)
2-3 years
Vanilla (
Vanilla planifolia,
V. fragrans
; Orchidaceae)
Mexico, Central America
Seychelles
Pod or bean
Dried, alcohol extract (vanilla essence)
2 years (pods)
* Indicated as 'best before end' date.
Source: From Mulherin (1994), Peter (2001) and market surveys.
