The stage of maturity is utmost important for the harvesting of any crop. and for horticultural and plantation crops, its like the very life of those crops

1. MATURITY
INDICES OF
SPICES

2. INTRODUCTION
 Those plants ,the product of which are used as food adjuncts to add
flavour and aroma are called spices.
 Spices which are used as food adjuncts to add taste only are called
condiments.
 Spices provide flavour and taste due to presence of essentialoils.
 Spices are used as whole,grind ,paste or liquid forms to improve
flavour,texture,colour and to increase shelflife.
 India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices in the
world.

3. MAJOR SPICES: CARDAMOM
(Elettaria cardamomom Maton)-
Zingiberacea
 Cardamom yields from the third year onwards,but
good yields are expected from the fifth year.
 Peak harvesting time is October-November.
 Harvestng is continued at intervals of 30-40 days and
completed in 5-6 months.
 While harvesting,each panicle is carefully searched for
the fruits in the correct stage of ripeness for picking.

4.  At the time of harvest,capsules are at different stages of
maturity and distinguished as,bud stage,tender
stage(gathered for making pickles),brown seed
stage(shrink on drying giving a shriveled appearance),
and dark seed stage (right stage for curing) .
 The capsules are picked with the stalk end intact and the
fully ripe stage picked for seed purpose only.
 If they are to ripen further ,the fruits split during drying.If
picked under ripe,the fruits will shrink while drying .

5. PEPPER (Piper nigrum L.)-Piperaceae
 Harvesting of pepper is carried out according to
need of the kind of pepper. ie white or black .
 For preparation of white pepper, the berries are
harvested at a slightly advanced stage of
ripeness,that is when berries turn red.Then they
are heaped for a day or two until berries turn
yellow.
 To get black pepper the berries are gathered at
younger stages,heaped for a day or two and then
dried in sun.

6. GINGER(Zingiber officinale
Rose)-Zingiberaceae
 Ratoon ginger matures early.The rhizome will
be ready for harvest when the stalks begin to
wither and dry.
 While harvesting care is necessary not to injure
the rhizome

7. TREE SPICES:CLOVE
(Syzygium aromaticum)-
Myrtaceae
 The spice is the unopened flower bud
produced on the terminal shoots of the twigs.
 The buds are collected when they are dull red
in colour.
 It is necessary to collect the buds before they
open as otherwise the value of the spice will
be lost.

8. NUTMEG
(Myristica fragrans Houtt) Myristicaceae
 Seedlings starts bearing in 7-8 years,reaching full bearing
in when they are about 25 years old and continue to yield well
upto sixty years.
 A ten years old tree may be expected to yield 500-800 fruits.
 Peak harvest are during two seasons-March april and August-September.
 Raw nutmeg kernel at maturity stage is firmly attached to outer shell and cannot be
separated without injuring.
 Individual fruit weighs on an average 60g of which the seed weighs 6-7g,mace 3-4g and
rest pericarp.

9. CINNAMON(Cinnamomum
verum P.resl.)Lauraceae
 Barks of cinnamon are used as spice.
 There are two seasons one in May and other in November
to cut the shoots for the extraction of bark.
 The cutting of shoots always depends upon the receipt of
rains.
 As soon as rain ceases,cutting of shoots for peeling of
bark is commenced.
 When the growth of bushes of leaves stop and the trees
have mature leaves is the indication of free flow of sap
between the bark and the wood.this is the proper stage at
which the best quality of bark can be obtained in the
cutting.

10. ALLSPICE
(Pimenta dioica(L)Morr.)-
Myrtaceae
 Seedling start flowering from the seventh to tenth
year but the peak harvest is obtained between 15
to 20 yrs.
 When the berries become fully developed fully
well,usually during july-august they appear
greenish and become glossy and dark later.
 To preserve the spicy conditions,berries are
harvested before they change to the dark and
glossy appearance .

11. SEED SPICES
(MINORSPICES):FENUGREEK
(Trigonella foenum graceum L)-
Leguminosae
 The crop matures in two and a half to three months after sowing.
 Fenugreek is ready for cutting 3-4 weeks after sowing when the
plants attain a height of 15-20cm.
 Delay in harvest makes the leaves bitter.
 Seed crops of common methi matures in 150-160 days and kasuri
methi in 160-170 days after sowing.
 The crops is harvested when the pods turn green to yellowish
colour.Crop should be harvested at this stage otherwise delay in
harvesting leads to shattering of the seeds.

12. FENNEL(Foeniculum vulgare Mill)
-Apiaceae
 Fennel matures in about 170-180 days.In this crop
all the umbels do not mature at the same time
hence,harvesting should be done in 3-4 pickings.
 Crops is harvested 40 days after pollination for the
production of chewing type lucknavi fennel while
for production of general type fennel the umbels
are harvested when the seeds are fully developed
and colour turn to yellow.

13. CUMIN(Cuminum cyminum L)-
Apiaceae
 Cumin crop matures in about 130-150 days after
sowing.
 The crop should be harvested when the stems
become yellow and leaves fall.
 Harvesting can be done by uprooting the plants.

14. CORIANDER
(Coriandrum sativum L)-
Apiaceae
 Coriander matures in about 90-145 days
depending upon the variety and growing
conditions.
 Change from green to yellow colour of grains is
an indication of maturity.
 Harvesting should be done at a stage when 50%
grains turn yellow to obtain good luster of the
grains.
 Delaying of harvest should be avoided because
there is shattering and splitting of grains in
subsequent processing operations

15. ANISE(Pimpinella anisum L)-
Apiacea
 The crop becomes mature and ready for
harvesting in nine or ten months after
planting depending on variety
 The indication of the crop maturity is the
yellowing and drying of the leaves.
 While harvesting the leaves and stems are
cut close to the ground.

16. OTHER SPICES:GARLIC
(Allium sativumL.)Alliaceae
 Garlic is a crop of four and a half to five months
duration.
 When the leaves start turning yellowish or brownish
and show signs of drying up(usually about a month or
so for the emergence of seed stalks),the crop is ready
for harvest

17. VANILLA(Vanilla planifolia
Andrews)-Orchidaceae
 When immature ,the beans turn dark
green in colour,but when ripe
yellowing commences fron its distal
end.This is the optimum time for
harvesting the bean.
 If left on vine the beans turn yellow on
the remaining portion and start
splitiing.

18. SAFFRON(Crocus sativus L.)
-Iridaceae
 Costliest spice
 The red fibres at the top of the flower
,mongra,provide the colour and flavor and is the
superior quality of saffron while style of the flowers
the yellowish lachha provides inferior variety of
saffron.
 The crop once planted will remain in the field for
10-12 years.
 Saffron commences flowering by middle of October
and may extent to December.

19.  Each plant will be in bloom for 15 days and
produces an average of five flowers.
 All flowers bloomed during the morning have to be
picked on the same day.
 The stigmas and tips of the styles of the flowers are
used for extraction of saffron