Processed meats
- The use of spices, particularly pepper, in the manufacture of meat products, is traditional for imparting flavour and maintaining the quality of the products.
- The typical seasoning mix for fresh sausages, for example, consists of pepper, capsicum, ginger, nutmeg, plus herbs.
- For dry sausages and pickled meats, cardamom and coriander are also used.
- The move to use oleoresins has been accelerated by the increasing size of manufacturing plants, where the use of spice extracts benefits production quality, as well as easy handling and cost savings.
- The above-mentioned spices are used in the dispersed form of their oleoresin, while cardamom and coriander are used in the form of their oils.
Fish and vegetables
- The seasoning mix for both fish and vegetables, and particularly pickled or brined products such as herrings, contain a wide range of spices and herbs.
- The use of oleoresins, particularly dispersed oleoresins on a soluble base, will provide a means of easier preparation, reduced handling and costs.
Soups, sauces, chutneys and dressings
- The increasing demand for convenience products available in the form of a dry mix for ready reconstitution, has caused a rapid move from conventional seasoning towards dispersed or encapsulated oleoresins and oils.
- Oleoresins of celery, pepper. capsicum, etc., are used in conjunction with the oils of onion and garlic.
- Coriander and ginger extracts are used in barbeque sauces.
- The use of the lesser known but highly useful spices. such as fenugreek, broaden the new product opportunities.
Cheeses and dairy products
- The use of spices in cheeses is established in Germany, including 'Quark'.
- Spice extracts are unlikely to be used in these products as spices provide the flavouring and visual impact.
- However, spice oils and oleoresins have significance in processed cheeses and savoury spreads.
Baked foods
- The use of cardamom baked goods in Scandinavia and Germany is traditional.
- The baking industry generally uses ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg.
- The move from the spice to their oleoresin has been effectively taking place for many years for ease of handling and simplicity in manufacture.
- The use of spice extracts in cake fillings, biscuits, and snack products is also steadily increasing.
Confectionery
- The use of spices and spice extracts in the confectionery area is rather rare, but the demonstration of the use of such material as cardamom oil and other extracts in toffees, chocolates, and others, has shown that they provide a very novel and pleasing confectionery ingredient which is new to the market.
Snacks
- Flavouring is an essential component of the appeal of snack products, and unusual because the flavour is often applied on the surface, either by spray coating or dusting.
- For this purpose, the seasoning mix has to be capable of being applied in spray form or powder.
- Oleoresins of pepper, chilli and celery, are widely used.
- Turmeric and chilli extracts are used to provide colour.
- Beverages Spice oils are used for the preparation of soft beverages, for example, ginger oil in the preparation of ginger beer, etc.
- Some of the less well- known spice extracts can be used to produce very pleasing soft drink products.
- But, these are not yet widely known outside of the countries in which they originate
Cosmetics
- The use of spice oils in the preparation of creams, soaps. shampoos, lacquers, lipsticks, etc., is well known. However, some of the materials available from India are not yet widely used, nor are they recognised as providing a new dimension to cosmetic products.
- The growing preference for herbal, spicy and spicy coniferous products like shampoos and hair tonics are noted, yet such extracts as those of cardamom and fenugreek are little heard of. The use of lesser known spice extracts can provide new product appeal.
Perfumes
- The perfumery industry uses a wide range of essential oils and oleoresins from sources far and wide, yet some of the lesser known oils and oleoresins are hardly used.
- An examination of the wide range of those available from India could well provide a new basis for products of appeal.
Hygiene products
- Products like toothpastes, mouthwashes, etc., depend on essential oils to provide their pleasing flavour, making them not only acceptable, but pleasant to use.
- In cleansing materials, detergents, etc., spice oils provide the aromatic appeal in otherwise uninteresting sometimes offensive notes associated with some of the base products.
Aerosols
- The use of aerosols worldwide is increasing at a significant rate in products such as air freshners, polishes, lacquers, and many cleansing agents, and waxes, etc.
- All of these are perfumed with essential oils for pleasant and fresh aroma.
Pharmaceuticals
- Both oils and oleoresins are widely used in pharmaceutical products, to provide either a pleasant taste or aroma to render them pleasing and easy to use, which would otherwise be difficult to accept. These include medications, skin creams, cold remedies, etc.
- Most staple foods are bland, although they provide important sources of nutrition and are essential for growth and maintenance.
- Food is made palatable and enjoyable by using spices and herbs which are valued for their flavour and colour.
- The use of whole spices in food processing is limited to the extent of providing 'eye appeal' to the final product and not imparting full characteristic flavours.
- The flavour moiety is well protected from evaporators and in whole spices by the cells.
- Whole spices release flavour slowly; ground spices release the flavour more quickly.
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