Sri
Lanka has been famous for her natural spices from ancient times.
Spices now play an important role in Sri Lankan agricultural economy
in respect of export oriented trade. The important spice crops in
Sri Lanka comprise cinnamon, pepper, clove, nutmeg and mace. Spices
are cultivated in the wet and intermediate zones of the country.
Common
Name
Botanical
name
Family
Part
Used
Cinnamon
Cinnamomum
verum
Lauraceae
Bark
Pepper
Piper
nigrum
Piperraceae
Fruit
seed
Cardamom
Elettaria
cardamomum
Zingiberaccae
Friut
seed
Clove
Syzigium
aromaticium
Myrtaccae
Flower
Bud
Nutmeg
Myristica
fragrans
Myristicaceae
Seed
Mace
Myristica
fragrans
Myristicaceae
Aril
of seed
Exports
of Spices and allied products are in the range of Rs.5700 mn and provides
many socio-economic benefits to the rural economy.
Exports
of spices can be divided in to two groups.
Primary
Form
Value
added form - powder, oil, spice mixes and various recipes
Quality
and Grading Standards
The bulk of spices entering international
trade is in whole and ungrounded form.
When
ground or mixed spices are exported specially testing for contamination
or other residues needed.
Sri Lanka follows SLSI standards but actual quality standards
required are set by importers and major end users against the
health and safety requirements of Food and Drug Act, ASTA Specifications,
EU regulations or ESA standards.
The
main quality factors considered are appearance, flavour, aroma,
colour, volatile oil content and cleanliness.
Packing
Spices are required to be packed in clean,
hygienic materials which do not interact with the product itself
and also depend on the importer's specification
Most
of the spices are packed in jute bags lined with waterproof. Cinnamon
is generally packed in bales and for other Spices steel drums or
wooden cases and for cardamom black polythene can be used for colour
preservation. All spices must be thoroughly dried to avoid the formation
of mould before shipment.
