WONDERS OF SPICES – STUDY AND IT'S APPLICATION

Spices are extracted from a plant source such as root, stem, bark, seed or fruit which are used to add flavour, aroma and colour to food. The essential oils extracted from the spices contain many medicinal properties such as anti diabetic, anti carcinogenic, as well as antioxidative and antimicrobial properties. An experiment was carried out to study the physical and physiochemical properties of the spices (cinnamon) viz. Nature, colour, appearance, weight, moisture content and the solubility of cinnamon. Hexane, an organic solvent, was used to test the solubility of cinnamon. Steam distillation method was used for the extraction of essential oils from cinnamon. An online survey was conducted with the help of google docs in which questions on other spices such as turmeric and cloves were also included. Literature review was done on cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, saffron and ginger to study their medicinal and antimicrobial properties.