Patents
Freshly harvested wet cardamom is spread on the platform to a thickness of about 20 to 25 cm. Firewood is burnt below and air with smoke passes through the bed of capsules which helps in drying. Occasional stirring is done with a long handled wooden rake. Depending on the thickness of the spread, it takes 2 to 3 days for complete drying. The cardamom obtained by the traditional method is dark brown in colour and has a strong smoky odour due to direct contact with smoke.The original aroma and even the chemical composition of the cardamom may change due to direct heating with exposure to smoke. Scientific curing houses of different capacities have been introduced by governmental agencies and progressive farmers with a view to producing good quality large cardamom capsules that yield smoke free oil. But this practice is very limited because of high processing cost. Hence bulk of the large cardamom drying is still carried out by the traditional "bhatti" - curing system. The quality of the "bhatti-cured produce is inferior with respect to appearance, texture and flavour quality of oil. The smoke odour in the oil derived from "bhatti"- cured large cardamom is undsirable for food application. Therefore a method was developed for the removal of smoky odour from "bhatti"cured, large cardamom oil which can be employed before the oil is released for marketing. The process involves the use of stirring oil having smoky odour with activated charcoal using a suitable stirrer, refluxing the mass with water on a heating mantle by hydro distillation. The oil thus obatained by this method is free from smoky odour.