Preserving the essence
Gautam
K Bhattacharya delves into the packaging options available for spices
cultivated in India and outlines the nuances and applications of each
India
is one of the leading producer and consumer of spices in the world.
The country, produces around 2.8 million tonnes of spices annually,
of this 10 per cent of the total produce is exported to over 150 countries.
In spite of the abundant production, the country is unable to cash
in on this advantage in the world market to its fullest potential.
The main reasons for this are improper supply chain management and,
essentially, packaging methods and mediums.
The spices that have a high world-market demand are pepper, cardamom,
turmeric, ginger, chilies, coriander, cumin, and so on. Apart from
basic spice products such as these, there is also a high demand for
value-added spice products like spice oils and oleoresins. Once again,
India produces 40 per cent of the world's total production in this
category.
Spices can be divided into
three broad groups:
Whole spices
Ground spices
Volatile oils and oleoresins.
WHOLE SPICES
The main consideration while
packaging whole spices is to cater to the need of the logistics team
and the supply chain in order to make them available at major distribution
points scattered across the world. As a result, they usually require
bulk packaging.
The worth of a spice is judged from its ability to provide the flavour
that it is actually meant to. As a result, packaging has to be done
in such a manner that during transit, the actual flavour is not lost
at all. In the case of whole spices, the original outer coating of
the spice mostly ensures that there is hardly any loss of the flavour
in storage or during transit. Hence the job of packaging is merely
to ensure that the outer shell is not broken. Usually, the outer shell
is quite hard and protects itself if not subjected to crushing.
Traditionally in India, whole spices are packed in jute bags. Jute
bags of the A-Twill and B-Twill varieties are used for storing these.
These bags prevent spillage and also prevent insects from entering
and contaminating spices.
As the period of storage increases, the requirement of the packaging
changes, and an additional requirement of restricting moisture ingress
is also added. In these circumstances, it is advisable not to use
normal jute bags. However, a little improvisation in terms of polyethylene
(PE) lined jute bags would be a better option and would increase the
shelf life of the packaged spice by about 60 per cent, as compared
to normal jute bags.
In this respect, other recent developments becoming quite common in
India are high-densitypolyethylene– (HDPE) woven sacks and multiwalled
paper sacks. In the case of long supply chains, plywood boxes are
also used. The pores in these boxes help in keeping the spices fresh.
The bulk packaging of dried chilies is usually problematic, as they
are voluminous. To overcome this problem, they are usually compressed
so that there is a reduction in volume as well as moisture content,
thereby making them easier to package for shipment or for storage.
GROUND SPICES
The outer shell of
spices needs to be removed for grinding. This makes them more susceptible
to spoilage. As a result, packaging ground spices poses a problem.
These spices are also prone to losing their essential flavour, thereby
kick starting the decay process immediately. Moreover, ground spices
are exposed to potential threats like oxidation, moisture, temperature
and light. Each of these factors, in turn, starts physio-chemical
reactions in ...
contd...
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