COMMON INDIAN SPICES - NUTRIENT COMPOSITION, CONSUMPTION AND CONTRIBUTION TO DIETARY VALUE

Nutrient composition of eight commonly consumed spices of South India was analysed. Spices analysed were red chillies (Capsicum annum), blac k pepper (Piper nigrum), coriander seeds (Coriandrum sativum), cumin s eeds (Cuminum cyminum), garlic (Allium sativum), asafoetida (Ferula fo etida), dry ginger (Zingiber officinale) and ajowan (Carum copticum). The nutrients analysed were proximate principles, minerals, starch, su gars, dietary fibre components, tannins, phytic acid, enzyme inhibitor s and amino acids. Dry ginger, ajowan and asafoetida had high calcium (1.0-1.5%) and iron (54-62 mg/100 g) levels. The tannin content of spi ces was also high (0.9-1.3% DM). Dietary fibre ranged from 14-53%. Spi ces had appreciable amounts of essential amino acids like lysine and t hreonine. A survey revealed the average per capita consumption of spic es to be 9.54 g and at that level, the nutrient contribution from spic es ranged from 1.2 to 7.9% of an average adult Indian male's requireme nt for different nutrients.