The Process Behind White Cardamom
1. Harvest
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The Cardamom plants start bearing 2-3 years planting seedlings or suckers. Panicles appear from the bases of plants from January onward, and flowering continues from April to August or even later.
Generally, flowering is highest during May-June.
Fruits mature in about 120 days after flowering. Fruits are small trilocular capsules containing 15-20 seeds.
2. Cleaning and Washing
The first stage is to remove dust and dirt using winnowing basket or by using machine.
The capsules are washed thoroughly in water to remove any soil and dirt.
3. Drying
Cardamom capsules carry moistures level 70%-80% at harvest.
For proper storage, the initial moisture level has to be brought down to 8-10%
Cardamom capsules need to be dried within 24h, any further delay would result in deterioration of green color and appearance.
Using special machine to be dried.
4. Bleaching
Bleaching can be done either with dried cardamom capsules or fresh harvested.
Fresh capsules soaked for 1h in 20% potassium metabisulphite solution containing 1% hydrogen peroxide solution degrade the chlorophyll.
Drying of these capsules yield golden yellow color.
