CARDAMOMS 141 



guished by their elongated shape, shrivelled appearance, and grey- 

 ish brown colour ; the seeds closely resemble the foregoing, but have 

 a slightly bitterish taste, different odour, and rather thicker epidermal 

 cell walls (4-5 to 6*0 //, ; see above). They are used for the produc- 

 tion of commercial cardamom oil, and also for making liqueurs and 

 for flavouring. 



Other varieties occasionally met with are : 



Round or Cluster cardamoms (Amomum Cardamomum, Linn6) ; fruits globose, 

 about 12-15 mm. in diameter ; seeds have strong camphoraceous taste (Java) ; 

 frequently found in imported shelled seeds. 



Korarima cardamoms (Amomum Korarima, Pereira) ; fruits ovate, pointed ; 

 seeds larger than genuine, reddish brown, striated ; taste similar (Abyssinia). 



Bengal cardamoms (A. aromaticum, Roxburgh) ; fruits large, winged ; seeds 

 about 3 mm. long ; taste very aromatic, camphoraceous (India). 



Wild cardamoms (A. xanthioides, Wallich) ; fruits spiny; seeds resemble 

 genuine but flavour is different (Siam). 



Powdered cardamom seeds may be distinguished from the pow- 

 dered fruits by the absence of the tissues of the pericarp (see above). 



Uses. Cardamoms are employed as an aromatic carminative and 

 as an agreeable flavouring agent. 



FRUITS IN LESS FREQUENT USE 



Annatto. A colouring matter obtained from the seeds of Bixa Orellana, 

 Linne (N.O. Bixinece), a small tree indigenous to South America (Venezuela, 

 Brazil) and cultivated in most tropical countries. The outer part of the shell 

 of the seed consists of a soft, sticky, red, resinous mass. The capsular fruit is 

 opened, the seeds removed and the annatto separated by vigorously stirring 

 with water, pulping, drying the pulped mass and pressing it into cakes ; or the 

 seeds mixed with water may be allowed to ferment, the annatto suspended in 

 the water separated by sieving, boiling, skimming off the scum, evaporating 

 it, and forming it into cakes. Annatto from Brazil (Spanish annatto) has an 

 agreeable odour ; that from Cayenne (French annatto) has an unpleasant odour, 

 due, it is said, to the addition of urine in order to keep the cakes moist. The 

 chief constituent is bixin (minute, dark red crystals, soluble in alcohol, ether 

 and alkalies, insoluble in water), fat, resin, &c. It is used to colour butter, 

 cheese, wax, varnish, &c. 



Buckthorn Berries. The fruits of Rhamnus cathartica, Linne (N.O. Rhamnece). 

 The fresh fruits are almost black, spherical up to 1 cm. in diameter, inferior, 

 crowned with an eight-rayed calyx ; mesocarp fleshy, greenish ; each of the 

 four carpels contains a single ovule but usually two or three only develop into 

 hard seeds. The fruits are usually used in the fresh state for the expression 

 of the juice (Succus Rhamni) which is made into syrup (Syrupus Rhamni) 

 by the addition of sugar. The chief constituents are rhamno-emodin (Tschirch 

 and Polasco), rhamno-carthartin (an emodin glucoside) and emodin-anthranol ; 

 they are accompanied by yellow colouring substances, rhamnoxanthin, xantho- 

 rhamnin, quercetin, rhamnocitrin, rhamnolutin, rhamnochrysin. The syrup is 

 used as a purgative. 



