The Cardamom spice can be from several different species in the genera of Elettaria and Amomum, which are all in the Ginger family.
The Elettaria Cardamomum (Elettaria cardamomum) is also termed the “True, or Green Cardamom” and is native to India, Pakistan, Burma and Bangladesh.
Cardamom is one of the most expensive spices in the world, third to vanilla and saffron.
As with many spices, it not only has food, flavoring, beverage, but also traditional medicinal use.
Cardamom is one of the warming sweet spices, with a strong and very aromatic resinous flavor and fragrance.
The plants are about 6-13 feet tall with a general growth habit like ginger, but producing flowers that are white to lilac in color.
After flowering a green three-sided seedpod is produced that contains several seeds, which are used as the Cardamom spice either whole or dried. It is popular in many Indian and other Asian cuisines.
In traditional medicine, Cardamom is used for such uses as aiding digestion, diarrhea, dyspepsia, headache, epilepsy and cardiovascular disease.
One of the most popular uses are to chew a seed for combatting bad breath.
The essential oil has been found to have analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and antispasmodic activities.
In one preclinical study, Cardamom powder was found to prevent dyslipidemia, obesity, oxidative stress, and hepatic damage from the high carbohydrate and high fat diet.
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Have some Cardamom before that Kiss!
