2 Variation of Cardamom: Javanese Cardamom and Indian Cardamom
Cardamom is a type of spice produced from the seeds of several plants from the genera Elettaria and Amomum in the Zingiberaceae family (ginger ginger family). Both genera are native to India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan. Cardamom seeds can be recognized by their small seed pods, triangular in cross-section and spindle-shaped, with a thin outer skin and small black seeds.
The benefits of cardamom
Cardamom is often used as a spice (spice) for certain dishes to add aroma to dishes, enhance flavors in dishes and also for mixtures of herbs or traditional herbal medicines. Cardamom can also be used as an anti-depressant by mixing it with water in a glass and waiting for it to settle for about 30 minutes. Before and while drinking, can be interspersed with inhaling the aroma. Not only that, cardamom has even become an important export commodity, especially for Middle Eastern countries, Egypt and India.
Cardamom can help treat high blood pressure. The antioxidants in cardamom are closely related to lowering blood pressure. Spices such as cardamom can also lower blood pressure due to their diuretic effect which can increase the frequency of urination thereby reducing the amount of water that accumulates in the body, including around the heart.
Cardamom seeds, oil and extract have several healing properties and are often used in traditional medicine. The content in cardamom is able to treat intestinal spasms, kill some bad bacteria, reduce swelling, and help the immune system, reduce the risk of developing cancer cells, help with digestive problems and ulcers, treat bad breath and cavities, and lower blood sugar levels.
Variations of cardamom plants
There are two kinds of cardamom that are often found in Indonesia, namely Javanese cardamom (Amomum compactum) and overseas cardamom or Indian cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) and both belong to the ginger tribe or Zingiberaceae. Indian cardamom was introduced to Guatemala by a coffee plantation entrepreneur from Germany named Oscar Majus Kloeffer, before World War I. Now Guatemala is the largest cardamom producing country in the world followed by India. Several countries such as Sri Lanka and Indonesia also cultivate this type of cardamom. Elettaria seed pods have a bright green color, while Amomum seed pods are larger and have a dark brown color. Now cardamom is the third most expensive spice in the world, after saffron and vanilla.
Javanese cardamom
Javanese cardamom (Amomum compactum) or white cardamom is a type of cardamom that is often used as a spice (spice) for certain dishes and also for mixed herbs.
This type of Javanese cardamom has a physical form with strong soft stems and can last for years with an aromatic aroma in various parts. This plant can grow up to two meters. The rhizome grows into the ground, has a slightly round size, with a slightly yellowish white color
Javanese cardamom (Amomum compactum) is a type of cardamom that is often used as a spice (spice) for certain dishes and also for mixed herbs. This type of Javanese cardamom has a physical form with strong soft stems and can last for years with an aromatic aroma in various parts. This plant can grow up to two meters. The rhizome grows into the ground, has a slightly round size, with a slightly yellowish white color
In addition, there are reddish-brown hairless petal scales. The stems appear pseudo with separate sizes, growing upright with 1.5-2 meters. The leaves are alternate, seated, lanceolate shape, with a diameter of 7.5-50 cm x 3-10cm. The petals are shaped like a 1.3 cm sheath tube and are hairy. Crown in the form of a tube, three with a length of about 8 mm, white or yellowish. The fruit capsule is slightly rounded depressed, 1-1.5 cm in diameter, tightly ribbed and finely short haired, crowned with remaining floral ornaments. The many small seeds are protected in a whitish seed coat (arylus).
Sabrang cardamom or Indian cardamom
The opposite cardamom or sabrang cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is a kind of spice that is important for various types of cuisine in Asia and is also widely used as an ingredient in traditional medicine (herbal medicine). This cardamom originates from South Asia and spreads to the Malesia region. This wet-trunked plant has stems with leaf sheaths that wrap around the stems. Place the leaves alternately. The flowers of this plant are arranged in bunches that come out of the rhizome. The fruit is egg-shaped, hairy, and yellow-gray in color. The fruit is gathered in small and short bunches. When it is ripe, the fruit will break and split into spaces. Inside there are seeds that are oval in shape.
Cardamom bears fruit at the age of 3 years. Cardamom pods emerge from pseudostems near the ground and creep along the bunches along the 1 m into the surrounding ground. The fruit, which is 1 cm long with three sides, is picked when it is plump, dense and half ripe. When it is ripe, the green color has changed to light green and the smell is delicious.
In India, dried fruit, sorted according to size and color, and those that are already a beautiful straw yellow are packaged for sale, while those that are not, are blanched first with sulfur fumes. It is this quality care that ultimately makes India an exporter of cardamom which is loved by many people. The dried fruit becomes wrinkled, striped and contains 4-7 small sorrel seeds. It tastes a bit spicy like ginger, but doesn’t smell.