''Elettaria cardamomum'', commonly known as green or true cardamom, is a herbaceous,

perennial plant A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...

in the ginger family, native to southern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. It is the most common of the species whose seeds are used as a spice called

cardamom Cardamom (), sometimes cardamon or cardamum, is a spice made from the seeds of several plants in the genera ''Elettaria'' and ''Amomum'' in the family Zingiberaceae. Both genera are native to the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia. They are r ...

. It is cultivated widely in tropical regions and reportedly naturalized in Réunion,

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

, and Costa Rica.

Growth

''Elettaria cardamomum'' is a pungent, aromatic, herbaceous, perennial plant, growing to about in height. The leaves are alternate in two ranks, linear-lanceolate, long, with a long pointed tip. The flowers are white to lilac or pale violet, produced in a loose spike long. The fruit is a three-sided yellow-green pod long, containing several (15-20) black and brown seeds.

Use

The green seed pods of the plant are dried and the seeds inside the pod are used in Indian and other

Asian cuisine Asian cuisine includes several major regional cuisines: Central Asian, East Asian, North Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and West Asian. A cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, usually associated with ...

s, either whole or ground. It is the most widely cultivated species of cardamom; for other types and uses, see

True cardamom may have been used in

Ayurveda Ayurveda () is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. The theory and practice of Ayurveda is pseudoscientific. Ayurveda is heavily practiced in India and Nepal, where around 80% of the population rep ...

medicine as early as the 4th century BC. Ground cardamom is an ingredient in many Indian

curries A curry is a dish with a sauce seasoned with spices, mainly associated with South Asian cuisine. In southern India, leaves from the curry tree may be included. There are many varieties of curry. The choice of spices for each dish in tradi ...

and is a primary contributor to the flavour of '' masala chai''. In Iran and India, cardamom is used to flavour coffee and tea. In addition to its native range, it is grown in Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Central America. In India, the states of

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

and

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

are the main producers of cardamom; they rank highest both in cultivated area and in production.

Ecology

''E. cardamomum'' is used as a food plant by the larvae of the moth '' Endoclita hosei''.

Varieties

The three natural varieties of green cardamom plants are: * Malabar (Nadan/native), as the name suggests, is the native variety of

. These plants have floral

racemes A raceme ( or ) or racemoid is an unbranched, indeterminate type of inflorescence bearing flowers having short floral stalks along the shoots that bear the flowers. The oldest flowers grow close to the base and new flowers are produced as the s ...

(which bear the pods) that grow horizontally along the ground. * Mysore, as the name suggests, is a native variety of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

. These plants have floral racemes which grow vertically upwards. The Mysore variety has declined, however, in the past few decades owing to the emergence of the more resistant and better-yielding 'Green Gold' variety, and which is the most common form of cardamom harvested in Kerala. * Vazhuka is a naturally occurring hybrid between Malabar and Mysore varieties, and the panicles grow neither vertically nor horizontally, but in between. Recently, a few planters isolated high-yielding plants and started multiplying them on a large scale. The most popular high-yielding variety is 'Njallani', which is a unique high-yielding cardamom variety developed by an Indian farmer, Sebastian Joseph, at

Kattappana Kattappana is a municipal town in the Sahyadri (or Western Ghats) of Kerala state, India. It is the main urban centre in the high ranges of Idukki district, situated about from sea level. It is the second city to became a municipality in ...

in the South Indian state of Kerala. K. J. Baby of Idukki District, Kerala, has developed a purely white-flowered variety of Vazhuka type green cardamom having higher yield than 'Njallani'. The variety has high adaptability to different shade conditions and can also be grown in waterlogged areas.

References

External links

* *
University of Melbourne: Sorting ''Elettaria'' names
{{Authority control Alpinioideae Spices Flora of India (region) Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Medicinal plants of Asia