HERBS, SPICES AND ESSENTIAL OILS

Herbs, spices and essential oils

Post-harvest operations in developing countries

UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

? UNIDO and FAO 2005 -- First published 2005

All rights reserved. Reproduction and dissemination of material in this information product for educational or other non-commercial purposes are authorized without any prior written permission from the copyright holders provided the source is fully acknowledged. Reproduction of material in this information product for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without written permission of the copyright holders. Applications for such permission should be addressed to:

- the Director, Agro-Industries and Sectoral Support Branch, UNIDO, Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 300, 1400 Vienna, Austria or by e-mail to unido@

- the Chief, Publishing Management Service, Information Division, FAO, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00100 Rome, Italy or by e-mail to copyright@

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this information product do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization or of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal or development status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization and of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The mention or omission of specific companies, their products, or brand names does not imply any endorsement or judgement by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization or by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

This publication has not been formally edited.

Thumbnail images of spices were taken from , for which permission has been sought by the authors.

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PREFACE

There is a continuing and expanding international demand for herbs, spices and essential oils. Social changes, including food diversification, the desire for new flavours, increasing importance of "ethnic" food and the increased importance of processed food, which requires condiments and aromatic herbs for its preparation, are driving an increase in this demand. Developing countries have a significant opportunity to benefit from this increasing demand. Many of the products can be sold in a dried form or as extracts (e.g. essential oils), which gives them a high value per unit weight. These products could be a profitable source of diversification for small farmers in developing countries. It is in this connection that FAO and UNIDO decided to support this publication to give extension services and small-scale producers basic information on processing herbs and spices in view of increasing the awareness on this area of industry and improving the quality and marketability of these products. Spices and condiments are defined as "Vegetable products or mixtures, free from extraneous matter, used for flavouring, seasoning or imparting aroma in foods." Herbs are a subset of spices, generally derived from fresh or dried leaves, but in this guide no distinction is made between spices and herbs, in keeping with the International Standards Organization (ISO) definition. Essential oils or extracts are also derived from these plant sources either as a primary processing or a secondary opportunity. This guide is a broad introduction to generic post-harvest operations, which are often the limiting factors in the establishment of a profitable production enterprise based around herbs, spices and essential oils in developing countries. It is not intended to replace specialist and specific crop advice in production and post harvest processing which is available in publications and from experts. This guide was prepared by M. Douglas, J. Heyes and B. Smallfield of the New Zealand Institute for Crop and Food Research Inc. assisted with revisions by F. Mazaud (FAO) and C. Jenane (UNIDO). Special thanks to Ms. E. Jaklitsch, Ms. G. Garcia Nieto and Ms. V. Durand-Vuaille for the final editing and lay out of the guide.

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Preface

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1 Introduction

1

2 Major spice crops in world trade

1

3 Economic Impact and Trade

5

4 Products

8

4.1 Primary products........................................................................................ 8

4.2 Secondary and Derived Products .............................................................. 9

4.3 Requirements for Export and Quality Assurance ....................................... 9

4.4 Consumer Preferences ............................................................................ 11

5 Post-Production Operations

11

5.1 Pre-harvest Operations ............................................................................ 12

5.2 Harvesting................................................................................................ 13 5.2.1 Harvesting Seeds and Fruits ................................................................ 13 5.2.2 Harvesting Leaves and Stems.............................................................. 15 5.2.3 Harvesting Flowers and Buds............................................................... 15 5.2.4 Harvesting Roots and Rhizomes .......................................................... 16 5.2.5 Harvesting Bark, Wood, and Resins..................................................... 16

5.3 Transport.................................................................................................. 16

5.4 Threshing ................................................................................................. 17

5.5 Drying ...................................................................................................... 17 5.5.1 Drying Seeds and Fruits ....................................................................... 19 5.5.2 Drying Leaves and Stems .................................................................... 21 5.5.3 Drying Flowers and Buds ..................................................................... 21 5.5.4 Drying Roots and Rhizomes................................................................. 22

5.6 Cleaning................................................................................................... 22

5.7 Packaging ................................................................................................ 23 5.7.1 Packaging for Seeds and fruits............................................................. 23 5.7.2 Packaging for Leaves and stems ......................................................... 24 5.7.3 Packaging for Flowers and buds .......................................................... 24 5.7.4 Packaging for Roots and Rhizomes ..................................................... 24 5.7.5 Packaging for Bark, Wood, and resins ................................................. 24

5.8 Storage .................................................................................................... 24

5.9 Processing ............................................................................................... 25 5.9.1 Grinding and separating ....................................................................... 25 5.9.2 Extraction of essential oils .................................................................... 26

6 Overall Losses

33

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