1.3 Primary Products

The primary products harvested for spice or essential oil production can be broadly divided into six categories: seeds and fruits, leaves and stems, flowers and buds, roots and rhizomes, and bark, wood and resins. Appendix I, Tables 1-5, separated by plant parts, details the most important spice and essential oil crops by species name, common name, family name and a broad description of the plant habit. In some cases, for example Pinus, the genus has been referred to but locally specific species have not been separated and detailed. Appendix I also details the plant part used as a source of product and the products obtained from the plant.

1.4 Secondary and Derived Products

The secondary and derived products are many and varied but the most common are spice mixtures (eg curry powders) and compounds extracted from the plant material such as essential oils or oleoresins. In cases where the primary spice does not meet the quality specification as a primary product it will often be purchased as a low value product extracted to produce the essential oil, oleoresin or aroma compounds. There is also considerable advantage to the industrial food processor purchasing standardised extracts of known quality, which have no microbial or other contaminants. The spice flavours for food, beverage, or industrial use may come from different extraction processes and these pathways are outlined in Figure 4.

Figure 4. Extraction processes used and products from spice, herb and aromatic plants.

1.5 Requirements for Export and Quality Assurance

Spices, herbs and vegetable seasonings are valued for their distinctive flavours, colours and aromas but they can be heavily contaminated with micro-organisms because of the environmental and processing conditions under which they are produced. The microbial load has to should be reduced before they can be safely incorporated into other food products. High temperature treatment can cause significant loss of flavour and aroma from a spice because the volatile oils are lost. Steam also results in a loss of volatile flavour and aroma components and colour changes. Steam can also result in an increase in moisture levels. Until recently, most spices and herbs were fumigated with sterilizing gases such as ethylene oxide to destroy contaminating micro-organisms. However, the use of ethylene oxide was prohibited by an EU directive in 1991 and has been banned in a number of other countries because it is a carcinogen. Irradiation has since emerged as a viable alternative and its use results in cleaner, better quality herbs and spices compared to those fumigated with ethylene oxide. Irradiation, a A cold dry process , such as irradiation is ideal to kill the micro-organisms. Irradiation of herbs and spices is now widely practised on a commercial scale. The use of irradiation alone as a preservation technique will not solve all the problems of post-harvest food losses, but it can play an important role in reducing the dependence on chemical pesticides (International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, ( http://www. iaea.org/tcweb/publications/factsheets ) . International Atomic Energy Agency 1999). A code of good irradiation practice for the control of pathogens and other micro-flora in spices, herbs and other vegetable seasonings has been developed by the International C onsultative G roup on F ood I rradiation (ICGFI) under the aegis of FAO, IAEA and WHO. The purpose of the irradiation is to decontaminate the spices, herbs and vegetable seasonings of micro-organisms and/or insect pests. It is important to note irradiation is not used for the preservation of these ingredients and the process of preservation is obtained through proper drying, packaging and storage. Irradiation will not correct quality deficiencies. The code details pre-irradiation treatment, packaging requirements, the irradiation treatments and the dose requirement for radiation disinfection together with threshold doses that cause organoleptic changes (http://www.iaea.org/icgfi/documents/5spices.htm). Further details on irradiation including international facilities and the levels of allowable irradiation for foodstuffs entering many countries are available at http://www.iaea.org/icgfi.

There is still reluctance by some countries and market segments to adopt irradiation, and there have been recent developments to sterilize botanical powders such as spices by contact with an oxidant such as nascent atomic oxygen (United States Patent 6,682,697; He et al. 2004).

The International Organisation for Standardization (ISO) , a worldwide network of national standards institutes working in partnership, develops voluntary technical standards for a wide range of products that are traded internationall y. ISO s tandards for specific spices and essential oils (Appendix III, Table 10 ) have been formulated and adopted by the technical committees representin g the producer nations and ar e being continually updated. The ISO standard s help raise the levels of quality and provide assurance of minimum standards as well as detailing standardi zed analytical methods . For example, t he traditional method for evaluating pungency (heat level) of capsicum products, the organoleptic Scoville test, has now been replaced by HPLC (High performance liquid chromatography) where specific compounds are identified and levels quantified . The specific standards can be purchased on-line - see http ://www.iso.org.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission adopted a Code of Hygienic Practice for Spice and Dried Aromatic Plants in 1995 (CAC/RCP 42-1995). This code details hygienic requirements in the production/harvesting area, in the establishment design and facilities, for personnel hygiene, for hygienic processing requirements and the end-product specifications. This Code of Practice CAC/RCP 42 is available at www.codexalimentarius.net/standard_list.asp.

A summary of the main quality assurance hazard factors facing the spice processing industry is given in Table 1 together with the level of risk attached to the hazard if it exceeds the quality standards and the action that should be taken by the spice processor.

A comprehensive guide of practical information about the quality parameters and specifications of the common spices imported into United States spice processing industry is available [11] . T he Centre for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition within the USA Food and Drug Agency ( http://www. cfsan.fda.gov) provides a useful site on issues of food saf ety and standards for food to be imported and sold in the USA . The FDA advice sheet for manufacture r s of spices, spice seeds and herbs ( www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/qa-ind5m.html ) provides an overview for the industry. The FDACFSAN technical b ulletin number 5 details micro-analytical methods and procedures to

Table 1 : Main quality assurance factors for herb and spice processing.

Source: [12]

determine contamina tion in spices, herbs and botanicals caused by insects, animal excreta and extraneous matter. There is also a bacteriological analytical manual on-line which presents the FDA’s preferred laboratory procedures for microbiolo gical analysis of foods. For example, Chapter 5 presents the preferr ed spice analysis for salmonella and Chapter 18 for yeasts, mo u lds and mycotoxins

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~ebam/bam-toc.html . T he FAO site ( http: // faostat.fao.org ) has under food quality control and Codex Alime ntarius, the maximum permitted levels for specified pest i cide compounds in specific food items .

A code of hygienic practice for pepper and other spices has been written by the International Pepper Community and details the hygiene requirements in the production/harvest area, the design and facilities of spice processing establishments and their hygiene requirements, the hygienic processing requirements and quality standards for pepper ( http://www.ipcnet.org ).

Finally, a number of regional organisations offer on-line guides to existing legislation (Appendix III, Table 11).

1.6 Consumer Preferences

Greater i to be completed nterest in a wide range of international and ethnic dishes has been stimulated in recent years by extensive foreign travel, the establishment of a diverse range of ethnic restaurants , and the affects of immigration on food markets and supply chains. A useful summary of the changing consumer trends for spices and seasoning in the United States is available that lists a range of herbs and spices characterising each ethnic cuisine [11] . The food industry has been very active in promoting an interest in exotic foods as a promising growth sector . Advertising and media promotion by means of television cooking programmes , radio and m aga zines has stimulated de mand. Ethnic groups have shops dedicated to their national foods, a s well as supermarkets selling authentic ethnic products which are quick and easy to prepare. These developments have stimulated a wider range of food choice in home cook ing and created an increased demand for herbs and spices . It is important to note that it is generally true that the more affluent the market, the more demanding are its ‘entry standards’. Affluent consumers are increasingly risk-averse and it will be necessary to invest in quality assurance systems which include traceability through the marketing chain to meet these demands.