Chemical constituents & Uses of Green Cardamom
Chemical constituents
The essential oil in the seeds contain a-terpineol 45%, myrcene 27%,
limonene 8%, menthone 6%, ß-phellandrene 3%, 1,8-cineol 2%, sabinene
2% and heptane 2%.
Culinary Uses
- The leaves are cooked and eaten as greens and the roots are said to
be sweet succulent and delicious when boiled like potatoes.
- Flowers are a sweet addition to salads or as a garnish and young
seedpods are steamed.
Culinary Uses
- The pods can be used whole or split when cooked in Indian substantial
meals — such as pulses
- Cardamom is often included in Indian sweet dishes and drinks like
punches and milled wines.
- It is used in pickles, especially pickled herring and flavors
custard.
- It is also chewed habitually (like nuts) where freely available, as
in the East Indies, and in the Indian masticory, betel pan.
- It is often used in baking in Scandinavia and in Danish pastries.
- Throughout the Arab world, Cardamom is one of the most popular
spices, with Cardamom coffee being a symbol of hospitality and prestige.
- In the Moghul cuisine (Northern India) it abundantly used in the
delicious rice dishes called biriyanis.
- In Sri Lanka, the pods are added to fiery beef or chicken curries.
- A small amount of Cardamom will add a tempting flavor to coffee cake.
- Flans, rice puddings, porridges, etc. taste much better with a dash
of cardamom.
- Add whole cardamoms to flavour tea drunk with milk.
Medicinal Uses
- A stimulant and carminative, it is used for indigestion and
flatulence
- In India, green cardamom (A. subulatum) is broadly used to treat
infections in teeth and gums.
- It is used to prevent and treat throat troubles, congestion of the
lungs and pulmonary tuberculosis
- Used in inflammation of eyelids and also digestive disorders.
- It is also reportedly used as an antidote for both snake and scorpion
venom.
- Indians regarded it as a cure for obesity.
- Cardamom is used as a breath-freshener, but it is said that excessive
use thins the blood.
