Attokaran M. Natural Food Flavors and Colorants

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366 Individual Flavors and Colorants

Physical characteristics reported for such oil are as follows.

Optical rotation − 2 ° to + 1 °

Refractive index 1.5530 – 1.5582 at 20 ° C

Speciﬁ c gravity 0.978 – 0.987 at 25 ° C

According to a recent study using GC - MS, the components of the star anise are

found to be trans - anethole (94.37%), methyl chavicol (1.82%), and cis - anethole

(1.59%) (Singh et al. 2005 ). A recent Chinese study based on supercritical ﬂ uid extrac-

tion and solvent extraction followed by GC - MS examination shows several peaks,

with anethole as the main compound (Wang et al. 2007 ).

Uses

The Chinese use star anise in meat preparations, especially in pork and chicken. Star

anise oil can replace the spice in processed food. It can also be used in savory and

sweet preparations made in other parts of the world where aniseed and its oil are used.

Star anise oil can ﬁ nd use in medicinal preparations for stomach and digestive ail-

ments. It can also be a good source of anethole, which has additional uses (see Chapter

16 on aniseed).

Photo 26. Star anise. See color insert.

91 Star Anise 367

Identiﬁ cation Numbers

FEMA No. CAS US/CFR E - No.

Star anise oil 2096 8007 - 70 - 3 182.10 –

84650 - 59 - 9 –

Star anise extract 2096 8007 - 70 - 3 182.10 –

References

Ize - Ludlow , Diego ; Ragone , Sean ; Bernstein , Jeffrey N. ; Bruck , Isaac S. ; Druehowny , Michael ; and Garcia

Pena , Barbara M. 2004 . Chemical composition of Chinese star anise ( Illicum verum ) and neurotoxicity

in infants . JAMA 291 ( 5 ), 562 – 563 .

Singh , Gurdip ; Maurya , Sumitra ; de Lampasona , M.P. ; and Catalan , Cesar . 2005 . Chemical constituents,

antimicrobial investigations and antioxidant potential of volatile oil and acetone extract of star anise

fruits . J. Food Sci. Agric. 86 ( 1 ), 111 – 121 .

Wang , Qin ; Jiang , Lin ; and Wen , Qibiao . 2007 . Study on chemical components analyzed by GC - MS and

antioxidation of star anise extracts . Zhongguo Tiaoweipin ( 3 ), 38 – 42 (English) ( Chem. Abstr. 149 :103057).

Introduction

Sweet ﬂ ag (also called calamus) has been historically regarded as a symbol of male

love. The name is associated with a case of male to male attachment in Greek mythol-

ogy. This aspect was symbolized by English poets in the nineteenth century. It has

been suggested that the similarity of the spadix to the human penis is the reason for

this symbology. In Japan, the sharp sword - like leaves of the plant represent a Samurai ’ s

ﬁ ghting spirit. The name “ sweet ﬂ ag ” is derived from its sweet aroma and the wavy

edge of the leaves, which resemble a ﬂ uttering ﬂ ag.

Calamus has been important in medicine and, to a lesser extent, in perfumery. In

ancient Israel, calamus oil was used as an anointing oil in places of worship. In Egypt

and some Asian countries, calamus had a reputation as an aphrodisiac. In Europe, the

rhizome was added to wine and other specialty beverages. In North America, native

Americans found it to be a stimulant. When chewed to a paste and applied to the face,

calamus was supposed to suppress excitement and fear while ﬁ ghting. Making a warm

infusion and gargling or chewing a piece of rhizome is a good remedy for sore throat.

In Ayurvedic therapy, it is regarded as a rejuvenating substance. Sweet ﬂ ag has a long

and interesting history of use in various traditional herbal treatments.

Plant Material

The sweet ﬂ ag plant is a semiaquatic, rhizomatous, perennial herb. It is generally seen

by the side of ponds and in marshy places. The plant has long, sword - like, thick leaves

with a wavy edge. The leaves grow from the rhizome and therefore there is no dis-

tinguishable stem.

The leaves are green and thickened in the middle. The ﬂ owers are light brown and

densely packed in sessile cylindrical spadix. Its fruits are oblong turbinate berries with

a pyramidal top. The seeds are few and pendant from the apex of the cells (Warrier

1994 ). The rhizome is the valuable part of the plant. It is much branched, cylindrical

or slightly compressed, and almost as thick as the middle ﬁ nger. The external color

is light brown or pinkish brown. The inside is white and somewhat spongy.

Usually, the dried, rod - like rhizome is cut transversely into cylindrical bits of

1 – 1.5 cm in diameter. The upper surface shows triangular leaf scars. The pieces exhibit

a strong odor and a characteristic acrid and aromatic taste.

Sweet Flag (Calamus)

Acorus calamus L ( Araceae )

369

Natural Food Flavors and Colorants Mathew Attokaran

370 Individual Flavors and Colorants

Essential Oil

Disintegration of dried rhizome and steam distillation gives a yellow aromatic volatile

oil with a yield of 1.5 – 4.6%. The optical rotation reported is rather high, at + 9 to + 35 ° ,

with refractive index being 1.500 – 1.508 (Pruthi 1976 ). In older reports, the constitu-

ents reported are β - asarone, cis - methyl isoeugenol, asaryl aldehyde, calamene, lin-

alool, calamol, calameone, eugenol, methyl eugenol, azulene, pinene, cineole, and

camphor. β - Asarone, at 76%, is the major component (Leung and Foster 1996 ). In

fact, in Chinese oil, β - asarone is reported at 85%. β - Asarone is reported to be carci-

nogenic. Some other minor constituents reported include sesquiterpenes, acorager-

macrone, acolamone, and isoacolamone. Acoradin, 2,4,5 - trimethoxy benzaldehyde,

2,5 - dimethoxy benzoquinone, and some nonvolatile constituents are also seen in the

rhizome.

In this author ’ s lab, the yield obtained in commercial production is 2.8%. The dry

rhizome is reduced in size by pulverization in a hammer mill, followed by passing

through roller mill. This is then steam - distilled using low pressure for 35 hours.

Because sweet ﬂ ag oil is heavy, better results are obtained in a small still capable of

loading only 200 kg, where the total height is about 1 m, rather than a large still where

the total height is over 2 m. The oil obtained is a yellowish to brownish slightly viscous

oil with refreshing pleasant aroma.

The physical characteristics as deﬁ ned by the FCC are as follows.

Optical rotation − 0 ° .45 ′ to + 1 ° .15 ′

Refractive index 1.5430 – 1.5525

Speciﬁ c gravity 1.0350 – 1.1050

Studies using GC - MS show that sweet ﬂ ag rhizome contains β - asarone (47.53%),

L - calamenene (9.75%), isocalamendiol (5.41%), and pre - isocalamendiol (3.53%).

However, the oil from the root has some different components. The root oil shows

calamene (20.00%), aristolene (15.71%), acoradiene (14.19%), and cis - isoelemicin

(9.51%) (Gong et al. 2007 ). In another analysis using GC - MS, 36 chemical constitu-

ents are identiﬁ ed, which account for 98.05% of the volatile oil (Zhang et al. 2007 ).

The volatile oil (3.5%) is obtained by supercritical carbon dioxide extraction; on

analysis, this reveals acorenone (13.4%), isoacorone (11.6%), sesquilavandulol

(11.0%), dehydroxy isocalamendiol (7.7%), and β - asarone (5.5%) (Marongiu et al.

2005 ).

There is very little demand and production of sweet ﬂ ag oleoresin. 2,4,5 - Trimethoxy

benzaldehyde has been isolated from petroleum ether extract (Hossain et al. 2008 ).

This has very good pesticidal properties when tested against the ﬂ our beetle and rice

weevil.

Uses

Calamus oil has limited use as a food ﬂ avor. It is primarily used for its medical

qualities.

β - Asarone is reported to be carcinogenic and therefore calamus and its oil were

banned for use in food in 1968 by the U.S. FDA. However, the Indian Spices Board

has included calamus in the list of safe spices.

92 Sweet Flag (Calamus) 371

The greatest use of calamus oil is as a fragrance ingredient in various cosmetics

and toiletries. The root oil is used in hair tonics and antidandruff preparations.

Identiﬁ cation Numbers

FEMA No. CAS US/CFR E - No.

Calamus oil – 8015 - 79 - 0 – –

84775 - 39 - 3

References

Gong , Xianling ; Dian , Linghui ; Zhang , Lijian ; and Cai , Chun . 2007 . Study on chemical constituents of

volatile oil in rhizome and root of Acorus calamus L . Zhongguo Yaofang 18 ( 3 ), 176 – 178 (Chinese)

( Chem. Abstr. 149 :351138).

Hossain , Md. Shahin ; Zaman , Shahed ; Haque , A.B.M. Hamidul ; Bhuiyan , Mohammed P.I. ; Khondkar ,

Proma ; and Islam , Md. Robiul . 2008 . Chemical and pesticidal studies on Acorus calamus rhizomes . J.

Appl. Sci. Res. 4 ( 10 ), 1261 – 1266 .

Leung , Albert Y. ; and Foster , Steven . 1996 . Encyclopedia of Common Natural Ingredients , 2nd edition .

New York : John Wiley and Sons , pp. 111 – 113 .

Marongiu , Bruno ; Piras , Alessandra ; Porcedda , Silvia ; and Scorciapino , Andrea . 2005 . Chemical composi-

tion of the essential oil and super critical CO

extract of Commiphora myrrh (Nees) Engl. and Acorus

calamus L . J. Agric. Food Chem. 53 ( 20 ), 7939 – 7943 .

Pruthi , J.S. 1976 . Spices and Condiments . New Delhi : National Book Trust , pp. 215 – 217 .

Warrier , P.K. 1994 . Indian Medical Plants . Madras : Orient Longman , pp. 51 – 54 .

Zhang , Yan - ni ; Yue , Xuan - feng ; and Wang , Zhe - Zhi . 2007 . GC - MS analysis of chemical constituents of

Acorus calamus volatile oil . Zhongchengyo 29 ( 1 ), 124 – 126 (Chinese) ( Chem. Abstr. 147 :455793).

Introduction

The fruit of the tamarind tree is a very valuable ﬂ avor that is used in Indian cooking.

It serves the role of acidulant. Of all the acidic ﬂ avoring materials used, tamarind is

one of the most popular, particularly in South India where it is the essential ingredient

in dishes such as sambar and rasam .

Although India is the major producer of tamarind, it is believed that it was ﬁ rst

native to East Africa, especially Sudan. It was introduced to India many years ago,

though the circumstances are shrouded in uncertainty. Because of this, many people

erroneously believe that tamarind is indigenous to India. This belief is strengthened

by the fact that India is the major producer of the crop.

After the discovery of the New World, tamarind was introduced to the American

continent. In Mexico, tamarind grows wild. It also grows in countries in South and

Southeast Asia such as Thailand, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka.

Plant Material

The tamarind tree grows well in semiarid or somewhat humid tropical lands. It can

withstand cold to some extent, but intense cold will be injurious to it, especially at a

very young stage. It is a slow - growing, large tree with a height of about 25 m and a

spread of 8 – 10 m. With its bright dense foliage, the tree is an attractive one. The trees

that grow in America are generally smaller in size.

The leaves are evergreen, feathery, and pinnate. There will be 10 – 20 small leaﬂ ets

of about 1 cm in length. The leaﬂ ets close when sun goes down. In very dry areas

during very warm conditions, there can be some shedding of leaves. The ﬁ ve - petaled

ﬂ owers are 2 – 3 cm in size and borne in small racemes, and have a yellow color with

streaks of orange or red. The ﬂ ower bud looks pink due to the outer color of the sepals,

of which there are generally four. These are shed when ﬂ ower actually opens.

The fruits are elongated, 10 – 15 cm in length, about 2 cm in width, and slightly

curved. The irregularly curved fruits are formed in large numbers along young new

branches. The fruit is covered with a fawn - colored shell and has ﬁ ve or six bulbous

projections. As the pods mature, the inside is ﬁ lled with juice. The juice becomes

pulpy and changes color from light fawn to reddish - brown. The pulp further hardens

to a pasty mass when the fruit fully matures and ripens. Across the pulpy mass, there

are some hard strands of long ﬁ ber growing longitudinally. The pulp is edible and

Tamarind

Tamarindus indica L ( Leguminosae )

373

Natural Food Flavors and Colorants Mathew Attokaran

374 Individual Flavors and Colorants

forms the main part of the spice. It is sweet and intensely sour, naturally containing

sugar and acid.

The pods will contain large, ﬂ at, glossy, chocolate - colored, hard seeds embedded

in the edible pulp. Generally, the number of projections on the long fruit indicates the

number of seeds inside. Indian tamarind fruits are generally big and long, with six to

nine seeds, while those from American countries are short, with only three to six seeds.

Photo 27 shows Indian tamarind fruits on the tree.

Rootstocks are propagated by seeds, though grafting is also sometimes adopted.

Germination takes place in about a week ’ s time. Tamarind grows into a large tree, and

this fact should be kept in mind while planting. Trees bear fruits in 6 – 8 years, though

grafted seedlings produce fruits earlier.

Tamarind thrives in a variety of soil; its preferred soil is well - drained and slightly

acidic. Tamarind is adapted to dry conditions but watering in its young stage will be

beneﬁ cial for growth.

Deshelled fruits consist of 55% pulp, 33% seeds, and 12% ﬁ ber. A typical analysis

of tamarind pulp with 18% moisture will be 9.8% tartaric acid, 38.2% total sugars,

2.8% pectin, and 19.2% crude ﬁ ber (Pruthi 1976 ).

Tartaric acid is the characteristic acid of the pulp. Of the free sugar, 70% is glucose

and 30% fructose, with only traces of sucrose.

The pulp is sold in different ways. Mostly it is made into a lump of some shape

with seed and ﬁ ber not removed. A more reﬁ ned product is pulp freed of seeds

and ﬁ ber.

Extract

Tamarind has no essential oil. However, its juice concentrate is becoming popular for

use in both the household and in industry.

Photo 27. Tamarind fruits on the tree. See color insert.

93 Tamarind 375

Tamarind juice is reﬁ ned by boiling with water and removing the pulpy component.

This is strained through a cloth or a sieve to remove seed and ﬁ ber. The processes of

boiling with water and straining are repeated two to three times, until all juice matter

is removed. The collected juicy extract is concentrated by evaporating water in an

open steam kettle. Generally, the extract is concentrated to get a total soluble solid of

60 – 70 ° Brix, measured in a refractometer. The concentration can also be made with a

vacuum process to get a ﬁ ner product, but the cost will be higher.

The extracted juice is also made into granular coarse powder through the use of

binding agents such as starch; this will be easier to handle in the household, as the

powder will be free of stickiness and will be free - ﬂ owing. There are some variations

in which concentrated juice is dispensed so that the acidulant is supplied in a more

convenient way, free of seeds and ﬁ ber.

In Thailand and Indonesia, extraction is carried out with aqueous alcohol after

tamarind pulp is left to ferment for a short time. Alcohol and most of the water are

evaporated away to obtain a concentrate of above 60 ° Brix. The ﬂ avor will be slightly

different.

Seeds/Kernel

The inside of the seed is a rich source of starch, which is used in textile sizing. The

jute industry also uses this for sizing, as it is relatively cheap. The starch also has

potential for use in rubber and latex processing as a creaming agent and in food

texturing.

Uses

Concentrated aqueous extract of tamarind pulp, freed of seed, ﬁ ber, and grit (popularly

called “ tamcon ” ) is used in both the household and in industry as an effective sour

ﬂ avor. In Thailand and India, soft sour - sweet ball - shaped confectionery items are

gaining in popularity. A few thousand tonnes are exported from India to the Middle

East, the United States, and Europe for use in various sauces such as Worcestershire

sauce. For people of South and Southeast Asia settled in the West, concentrated extract

allows the enjoyment of tamarind - based savory dishes.

Identiﬁ cation Numbers

FEMA No. CAS US/CFR E - No.

Tamarind extract – – 182.20 –

Reference

Pruthi , J.S. 1976 . Spices and Condiments . New Delhi : National Book Trust , pp. 217 – 219 .