SPICES &
CONDIMENTS
Allspice
Introduction
The allspice of
commerce is the dried immature fruit of the tree Pimenta dioica (Family:
Myrtaceae). It is indigenous to West Indies. Jamaica is the main producer of allspice. Its
flavour is said to resemble a blend of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. There are a few trees
available in the Mahendragiri hills of Negercoil area, Ambalavayal in Kerala and Kallar
and Burliar of the Nilgiris. It is a small evergreen tree, flowers are white and branch
trichotomously in the axils of upper leaves. Flowers are structurally hermaphrodite but
functionally dioecious. Stamens numerous, above 100 in barren trees and 50 in bearing
ones. It flowers during March-June and matures in 3 to 4 months after flowering. Fruit is
a two-seeded berry. Male trees flower earlier.
Cultivation
It is raised through
seeds. The seeds can be stored as ripe berries after collection without extracting seeds
upto three weeks. But viability gets reduced slowly after a period of three weeks and is
lost completely after nine weeks. The seeds are sown in raised beds of 15 to 20cm high,
one metre width and convenient length. The beds may be made of loose soil-sand mixture
having sand in the top layer. The seeds germinate in 15 days and continue upto 40 to 45
days. The seedlings can be transferred to bags 3 weeks after their emergence above ground
level. Six months old seedlings are planted at a spacing of 6m either way. As there is no
manurial schedule available for allspice, the schedule recommended for clove can be
followed for this. Plants start flowering when they are 7 to 10 years old, but the peak
harvest is obtained from 15 to 20 years.
Harvesting and
processing
The berries are
harvested when fully grown, but still green. They are sun dried and are frequently turned
down with ladles. The process of curing lasts 3 to 12 days, till the berries are
completely dried. Curing is complete when the berries become crisp and produce a metallic
sound if shaken. A tree yields 50 to 60 kg of dry berries. The Pimento berry oil is
distilled commercially in Jamaica. The oil yield from berries varies from 3.3 to 4.5% and
its eugenol content is 65 to 66%.
The pimento leaf oil
is also distilled only in Jamaica from the leaves removed during the harvesting of the
berries. Oil yield from dried leaves ranges from 0.7 to 2.9% while fresh leaves yield 0.35
to 1.25%. It is a flavouring agent in culinary preparations like soups, sauces, ketchup,
pickles, meat, and curry powder and in bakery items. In liquor industry also, it is used
as a favourite ingredient. |
Ag.
Technologies
(Horticulture)
|