Navin Trading Company - Exporters of Kerala Spices, Pioneers in Black Pepper Trade, Spices Export Award Winner, Office at Jew Town, Mattanchery, Over 30 years into the export of Spices from Kerala.

Spices In Kerala


		Black Pepper
		Cardamom
		Cassia
		Chilli
		Cinnamon
		Clove
		Coriander
		Cumin
		Ginger
		Kokam
		Nutmeg
		Tamarind
		Turmeric
		Vanilla

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Kerala Spices - Cassia

Description

Cassia is a spice consisting of the aromatic bark of the Cinnamomum cassia plant of the family Lauraceae. Similar to true cinnamon, cassia bark has a more pungent, less delicate flavour and is thicker than cinnamon bark. This ancient spice was known to the Chinese as early as 3000 BC and mentioned in the Bible. It was used by the Pharaohs and came into Europe over the spice routes from the East.

Cardamom is a native of Western Ghats in South India. India had a virtual monopoly of cardamom till recently. But now it is being cultivated in Guatemala, SriLanka, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Tanzania. Cardamom cultivation in India is confined to three states, viz. Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

Aroma and Flavour

Cassia from China is less aromatic than that from Vietnam and Indonesia. Cassia from all the three countries possess a sweet, aromatic, and pungent flavour. Vietnamese, or Saigon, cassia is particularly highly esteemed.

It contains from 1 to 2 percent oil of cassia, a volatile oil, the principal component of which is cinnamic aldehyde (85-90%). The leaf oil from this species also contains a high percent of cinnamic aldehyde. The oleoresin of cassia usually contains 25-40% volatile oil.

Culinary use

Cassia bark is used as a flavouring in cooking, especially in savory dishes and particularly in liqueurs and chocolate. It is an ingredient in mixed spice, pickling spices. It is good with stewed fruits. Southern Europeans prefer it to cinnamon, but, in North America, ground cinnamon is sold without distinction as to the species from which the bark is obtained.

In The Spot Light

Cinnamomum cassia Presl.

Family : Lauraceae

Other names : Bastard cinnamon; canel; canton cassia; Chinese cinnamon

Medicinal and other use

Cassia buds, the dried, unripe fruits of C.cassia and C.loureirii, have a cinnamon-like aroma and a warm, sweet, pungent taste akin to that of cassia bark. The whole buds are added to foods for flavouring. The cinnamic aldehyde is a good antifungal agent. The volatile oil is used in some inhalants, in tonics and as a cure for flatulence, sickness and diarrhoea.