ABSTRACT
Large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.), a member of Zingiberaceae family under the order Scitaminae is a perennial soft-stemmed plant, commonly known as large cardamom. It is one of the ancient spices in the world. It grows in the vicinity of mountain streams in swampy, cool and humid areas in the shade of forest trees, of which nitrogen-fixing trees are the more suitable shade trees. It is domestically grown in the subHimalayan region, at altitudes ranging from 1000 to 2000 m mean sea level (MSL). It is mainly cultivated as cash crop in the eastern Himalayan region including Sikkim and the Darjeeling hills in India, the eastern part of Nepal and southern Bhutan (Sharma et al., 2000). Sikkim is the largest producer of large cardamom in India and second largest in the world, after Nepal. Nepal and Bhutan are the other countries where large cardamom is cultivated. It is used as a spice and in several Ayurvedic preparations. It contains 2-3% of essential oil and possesses medicinal properties such as carminative, stomachic, diuretic, cardiac stimulant, antiemetic, etc. The characteristic pleasant aromatic odour of large cardamom makes it popular to be extensively used for flavouring many food preparations in India.
