CARDAMOM SEED EXTRACT

Cardamom oil is an almost colorless or pale yellow to light brownish liquid. It darkens when exposed to daylight.

The odor of cardamom oil is warm-spicy, aromatic, at first penetrating camphoraceous-cineole-like or somewhat medicinal, reminiscent of eucalyptus. Later, it becomes balsamic-woody, increasingly sweet and almost floral on the dryout. The odor is extremely tenacious with a delightful, warm spiciness and balsamic-floral undertone.

The flavor of cardamom oil is rich-aromatic, warm and spicy, somewhat burning or pungent at high concentration, and faintly bitter unless well diluted.

In perfumery, the oil will not only impart spiciness, but also a warm, sweet note which fits into floral bases such as muguet and rose. Cardamom oil blends well with bergamot, olibanum, ylang-ylang, labdanum products, nerol, methyl-ionones, cedarwood derivatives, etc. or with heliotropine, cassione, isoeugenol, hydroxycitronellal, etc. Coriander oil is an extremely fine modifier for cardamom oil in perfumery.

The spice itself is one of the musts in the genuine east Indian curry powder. Apart from its use as a spice in blends, cardamom oil replaces the spice in the canning industry for pickles, meat sauces, seasonings, etc. where uniform quality and constant effect are of paramount importance. In certain areas, e.g. the Scandinavian and north European countries, cardamom is a very popular addition to bread and all baked goods.

The oil is produced by steam distillation of the seeds of Elettaria Cardamomum, a plant of the ginger family.