Physicochemical, Bioactive & Antimicrobial Property Analysis of Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) Seed and Husk and its Flavor Extracted by Different Extraction Methods

Abstract

Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) is a popular spice all over the world that has the potential to be classified as a functional food because it provides health benefits that go beyond its basic nutritional value. The current study attempted to investigate the nutritional properties of individual cardamom husks and seeds. The husk has a higher value of crude fiber (31.8%) and ash (15.4%) than the commonly used cardamom seed which contains 11.8% crude fiber and 4.6% ash. Cardamom husk has a higher concentration of minerals such as calcium (12.11%), magnesium (4.84%), and potassium (24.03%) where seed contains calcium (2.46%), magnesium (2.48%), and potassium (13.1%). Because cardamom has a high fat content, fatty acid analysis was performed to determine the nutritional value of the spice. Cis-oleic acid (C18:1) is found in the highest concentrations in both the seed (46.87%) and the husk (22.79%). Palmitic acid and linoleic acid are also more abundant as plant fatty acids. Cardamom, despite containing a certain amount of protein, did not produce a chromatogram for amino acid analysis. It could be a case for further research. Furthermore, cardamom oil is used for both food and pharmaceutical purposes. So, cardamom flavor was extracted by rotary evaporator, Liebig condenser and cabinet dryer in order to study its bioactive, antimicrobial, and radical scavenging activities. Though the yield of extract was highest from condensation method, the highest amount of bioactive compound recorded for husk sample of drying technique as 145.001mg QE/100gm. The RSA value ranged from (54.6-77.44) %, which has a greater impact when using cardamom for therapeutic purposes. On the other hand, cardamom seed and husk extract showed antimicrobial properties. There is potential for using cardamom extract as an alternative to chemical preservative in foods such as meat, which can be well blended with this spice.