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Spices, Essential Oils and Medicinal Herbs
Herbs, Herbal Preparations and Health Foods
Sri Lankan herbs can be divided into two groups:
Culinary herbs
Medicinal herbs
Ten Sri Lankan companies are involved in growing, processing and exporting herbs and herbal preparations.
Culinary Herbs
Tarragon - [Artemisia dracunculus]
Sage - [Salvia officinalis]
Spearmint - [Mentha species]
Basil - [Ocymum basilicum]
Dill - [Anethum graveolens]
Medicinal Herbs
Polpala - [Eerva lanta]
Gotukola - [Centella asiatica]
Komarika - [Aloe vera]
Ranawara - [Cassia auriculata]
Rasakinda - [Tinospora cordifolia]
Value added herbal preparations
Herbal tea, drinks, oils and balms.
Major Markets
Germany, UK, Switzerland, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and Russia.
Essential Oils and Oleoresins
Introduction
Essential oils are aromatic, odorous oily liquids obtained from plant material, for example flower
buds, leaves, seeds, bask fruits and roots. Essential oils, the most flavorful part of many spices & herbs, Therefore of highs value than the spice itself. Essential oils can be obtained from the plant material by distillation or extraction. Sri Lanka has a long history for exporting essential oils.
Exports of Essential oils from Sri Lanka as follows.
These are three different distillation methods.
Water distillation
Water & Steam distillation
Steam distillation
Major Markets
Essential oil Exports – 1998 ( Value in US $ Mn )
U.S.A., India, France, U.K., Netherland, Germany, Italy, Hong Kong, Spain, Switzerland
Quality & Grading Standards
The quality of essential oils is assessed by a buyer on the basis of a number of criteria.
Odour and flavour character
Physical properties and the chemical compositions
The Standard Specifications include
A definition of the acceptable botanical source and processing method for the particular oil, specifications for physico – chemical properties such as
Relative density
Ester value
Freezing point
Optical rotation analysis
CISIR certification gives general analysis of essential oils.
Packaging
There are different ways of packaging. The 200 L metal or tin lining drums are normally used for shipping high volume essential oils. These drums contain app. 180 Kg of oil. Special attention must be paid to sealing the drums, to avoid dilution of the essential oils during transport.
Market segmentation
Essential oils can be used in various end-use products. It depends on the kind of oil and the quality of the oil in what kind of end-use product they are processed.
Some of the different industries, which use essential oils are
Perfume industry
Pharmaceutical industry
Food industry
Bakery
Confectionery
Beverages
Optical rotation analysis
The Labeling on the drums must include a short description of the product and country of origin and the date of production.
Further it is recommended to include the following aspects on the label.
Name / address of the producer / exporter
Net weight
Recommended storage conditions
Spices
Introduction
Sri Lanka has been famous for her natural spices from ancient times. Spices now play an important role in Sri Lankan agricultural economy in respect of export oriented trade. The important spice crops in Sri Lanka comprise cinnamon, pepper, clove, nutmeg and mace. Spices are cultivated in the wet and intermediate zones of the country.
K.T.J.Kumara & Brothers (Pvt.) Ltd.
Randima Exporters
Common Name Botanical name Family Part Used
Cinnamon Cinnamomum verum Lauraceae Bark
Pepper Piper nigrum Piperraceae Fruit seed
Cardamom Elettaria cardamomum Zingiberaccae Friut seed
Clove Syzigium aromaticium Myrtaccae Flower Bud
Nutmeg Myristica fragrans Myristicaceae Seed
Mace Myristica fragrans Myristicaceae Aril of seed
Exports of Spices and allied products are in the range of Rs.5700 mn and provides many socio-economic benefits to the rural economy.
Exports of spices can be divided in to two groups.
1. Primary Form
2. Value added form - powder, oil, spice mixes and various recipes
Major Markets
Mexico, U.S.A., U.K., Colombia, Germany, India
Quality and Grading Standards
The bulk of spices entering international trade is in whole and ungrounded form.
When ground or mixed spices are exported specially testing for contamination or other residues needed.
Sri Lanka follows SLSI standards but actual quality standards required are set by importers and major end users against the health and safety requirements of Food and Drug Act, ASTA Specifications, EU regulations or ESA standards.
The main quality factors considered are appearance, flavour, aroma, colour, volatile oil content and cleanliness.
Packing
Spices are required to be packed in clean, hygienic materials which do not interact with the product itself and also depend on the importer’s specification
Most of the spices are packed in jute bags lined with waterproof. Cinnamon is generally packed in bales and for other Spices steel drums or wooden cases and for cardamom black polythene can be used for colour preservation. All spices must be thoroughly dried to avoid the formation of mould before shipment.
Major International Food Fairs…..
Food Ingredients Europe
Anuga
SIAL
IFE
Alimentaria
Food Ingredients Asia
Foodex
Food & Hotel Asia
Organic (Bio) Products
Range of Products
Tea, spices, cashew, desiccated coconut, herbs, processed fruits and vegetables.
Sri Lanka's economy has for a long time been based on the export of agricultural produce. In recent years, an effort has been made to break into the international market for organic produce. The first conversion of tea estates to organic production was made as early as the mid 1980s.
The Sri Lanka Export Development Board has recognised the potential Sri Lanka possesses to become an exporter of organic produce and with the assistance of Pro-trade has developed and diversified the exports of organic produce - mainly to EU countries.
Supply Position
Twelve companies are involved in the production and the export of organically grown produce. Large amounts of land are being certified for organic agriculture, so as to increase the supply base to enter new markets.
The certification is carried out by international agencies accredited to International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).
Major Markets
Germany, Australia, UK, Japan, Canada and France.