What Is Spices?
A Spice Is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of plants used for flavoring or as a garnish. Spices are sometimes used in medicine, religious rituals, cosmetics, or perfume production. For example, vanilla is commonly used as an ingredient in fragrance manufacturing.
A spice may be available in several forms: fresh, whole-dried, or pre-ground dried. Generally, spices are dried. Spices may be ground into a powder for convenience. A whole dried spice has the longest shelf life, so it can be purchased and stored in larger amounts, making it cheaper on a per-serving basis. A fresh spice, such as ginger, is usually more flavorful than its dried form, but fresh spices are more expensive and have a much shorter shelf life. Some spices are not always available either fresh or whole, for example, turmeric, and often must be purchased in ground form. Small seeds, such as fennel and mustard seeds, are often used both whole and in powder form.
What Are The Functions Of Spices?
Their primary function is to flavor food and to provide aroma, texture, and color. Spices also provide secondary effects, such as preservative, nutritional, and health functions.
Where Is Spices Made Of?
Spices can come from the following plant parts: roots, rhizomes, stems, leaves, bark, flowers, fruits, and seeds. Herbs are typically thought of as non-woody plants. It is not known when humans began to use the first herbs and spices as flavoring agents.
How Spices Are Made?
The process of manufacture involves cleaning, drying, pulverizing, sieving and packing of spices such as chilli, pepper, turmeric, coriander etc. either individually or in combination with other spices.
What Are Characteristics Of Spices?
Spices give aroma, color, flavor, and sometimes even texture to food. Each spice, chilli, or herb has specific, unique chemical compounds that contribute these sensual qualities. Spices usually do not have just one flavor characteristic.
Is Spice Good For Your Health?
If you enjoy spicy foods, there’s promising research that spices and peppers that contain the compound capsaicin can benefit your health. This includes improving your gut microbiome, possibly lowering your blood pressure, improving good cholesterol levels, and even revving up your metabolism.
How To Properly Store Spices:
Spices last longer when stored in a cool, dry location. So keeping jars of spices right next to your stove will significantly reduce their useful life. An enclosed spice rack or storing them in an opaque container will help your spices keep their flavor longer.
What Is The Importance Of Spices?
- Spices enhance the taste and flavour of food.
It’s well known that spices elevate the taste and flavour of food. Just a bit of spice can transform everyday ingredients into an appetizing and aromatic meal. Spices contribute rich flavour to food without adding any calories, fat, sugar or salt.
Herbs and spices also add flavours to dishes which, again, increases their complexity but also complements or plays counterpoint to other flavours already present.
- Spices provide nutrition.
Derived from plants, spices have a multitude of properties which can positively impact human health. Many spices contain antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and anti-viral properties which have health benefits and benefit the body.
For example, ginger and turmeric have anti-inflammatory properties and are widely used in recipes not only for their taste but for these health benefits. Another example is spices like cumin and cinnamon which play a role in digestion and can help with weight management.
Adding different spices to your meals can certainly help boost your nutrition. If you’re wondering which spices can be considered healthy spices, all of them are! Each with their own set of health benefits.
- Spices help in preserving food.
In the days when there wasn’t refrigeration or better ways to preserve food, spices helped in the preservation process as many spices have microbial properties. For example, take the instance of smoked meats. The meats were rubbed or dredged in salt, herbs, and spices to preserve and store them for a longer period of time.
Up until the 18th century, spices were sought after for their flavour and preservation properties and if one had spices, they were wealthy since many spices came from the Far East and exotic locales. Hence the Spice Islands India, Indonesia, Africa and South America were colonized by the Dutch, English, Germans, Spanish and French, which led to more exploration for the spice and tea traders.
Spices Prices In Ghana:
The prices of spices in Ghana varies it starts at an amount of GH₵ 2.00 to GH₵ 360.00 depending on Type, Brand & Size you might be purchasing on the market…!!!!