Green cardamom
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Cardamom ( Elettaria cardamomum ) |
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| Elettaria cardamomum | ||||||||||||
| ( L. ) Maton |
The green cardamom ( Elettaria cardamomum ) is a species of the ginger family (Zingiberaceae) within the monocot plants . There are two varieties of this species that are used as a spice: the malabar cardamom ( Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton var. Cardamomum ) and the less valuable Ceylon cardamom ( Elettaria cardamomum var. Major Thwaites ). Usually the seeds are used, often also the entire dried capsule fruits .
description
Elettaria cardamomum is a perennial herbaceous plant and usually reaches heights of 2 to 3 meters, occasionally up to 5.5 meters. A strong, rooted rhizome is formed as a permanent organ. There are many lanceolate leaves .
The inflorescence stem grows from a side shoot that creeps flat above the ground and reaches heights of up to 1.5 meters. The flowers stand together in a panicle inflorescence . The hermaphrodite, zygomorphic flowers are threefold with double perianths . The labellum is the most noticeable part of the flower.
The triple, straw-like capsule fruits are greenish-yellowish in color. In each fruit compartment there are four to eight irregularly shaped, gray to reddish brown seeds .
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 48 or 50.
origin
Cardamom (via Greco-Latin cardamomum from ancient Indian kárdama [c] h , 'dirt') is originally from South India , Sri Lanka , Iraq and Thailand . According to R. Govaerts, the homeland is southwestern India. Today, Guatemala is also a major export country ; other cultivation countries are Tanzania , Madagascar , Papua New Guinea and Vietnam .
Systematics
Synonyms for Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton are: Alpinia cardamomum (L.) Roxb. , Amomum cardamomum L. , Amomum ensal Raeusch. , Amomum racemosum Lam. , Amomum repens Sonn. , Amomum uncinatum Stokes , Cardamomum elletari Garsault , Cardamomum malabaricum Pritz. , Cardamomum minus (Gaertn.) Kuntze , Cardamomum officinale Salisb. , Cardamomum verum Oken , Elettaria cardamomum var. Minus Watt , Elettaria cardamomum var. Minuscula Burkill , Elettaria repens (Sonn.) Baill. , Matonia cardamomum (L.) Stephenson & JMChurchill , Zingiber minus Gaertn.
use
Cardamom is a type of spice. The capsule fruits ("cardamoms") of cardamom are picked by hand shortly before they are ripe, otherwise they will open and the seeds will be lost. In Arab countries, cardamom is said to have an aphrodisiac effect.
In the kitchen
The seeds contain an essential oil that gives them a spicy, sweetish-spicy aroma. Since it evaporates easily, whole capsules should be preferred to cardamom powder - in which the tasteless fruit peels are usually also ground - and the seeds only mortar or grind when needed. With a mortar, you push the pestle onto the capsule until it pops open. Then the shell is removed and the seed ground up. Good cardamom can be recognized by the fresh green color of the capsules and the oily black color of the seeds.
Cardamom seeds are a common spice in Asian and Arabic cuisine. They are a main component of Indian masalas and the curry powder based on them, as well as masala chai . The Ayurvedic confectionery Laddu , which is made from ghee butter, also contains cardamom. In European cuisine, the spice is mainly used in Christmas cookies such as gingerbread and speculoos , but also in sausage products , liqueurs , chocolate and as a component of spice mixtures. In Scandinavia , cardamom is also a typical component of sweet baked goods (e.g. Swedish Kanelbulle or Finnish pulla ) and in mulled wine ( Glögg ). Cardamom is often added to ground coffee when preparing Arabic mocha . Despite the same name, the so-called black cardamom ( Amomum subulatum ) is only used for spicy dishes.
In the medicine
The drug used is the fruit (Cardamomi Fructus) harvested shortly before ripening with the seeds of the var. Minuscula Bork , which is only native to the Malabar coast (Malabar cardamom).
The active ingredient is an essential oil (approx. 7%), which consists of over 120 compounds, especially alpha- terpinylacetate (about a third), cineol (also about a third), alpha- terpineol , limonene , linalyl acetate , linalool , hydroxycinnamic acid , fatty oil and starch . Only the seeds freed from the capsule shell are used for medicinal purposes .
Its essential oil has a positive effect on the secretion of saliva, stomach and bile. As a rule, alcoholic extracts are used, sometimes combined with caraway seeds and fennel and used in ready-to-use preparations against indigestion, flatulence and to stimulate the appetite. In some products, cardamom is only used as a flavor corrector.
literature
- PN Ravindran, KJ Madhusoodanan: Cardamom. The genus Elettaria. CRC Press, 2002, ISBN 0-415-28493-7 . (English)
- Manuela Mahn, Alexander Schenk: Naturally healthy with spices. Egmont Verlag, 2004, ISBN 3-8025-1624-9 .
- Ingrid and Peter Schönfelder: The new handbook of medicinal plants. Franckh-Kosmos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2011, ISBN 978-3-440-09387-0 .
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Elettaria cardamomum in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
- ↑ Elettaria cardamomum at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ↑ Helmut Genaust: Etymological dictionary of botanical plant names. Birkhäuser, Basel / Stuttgart 1976, ISBN 3-7643-0755-2 , p. 94.
- ↑ Rafaël Govaerts (ed.): Elettaria cardamomum. In: World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP) - The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved January 3, 2017.
- ↑ Entry in the poison plant compendium
Web links
- Gernot Katzer's spice pages.
- Ingredients of cardamom.
- Introducing cardamom. ( Memento from June 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF file; 913 kB)