With India being the #1 ranked country to produce the highest quantity of Spice, the Spice Board of India has to ensure that the exported spices meet the expected standards of people all around the World. As mentioned on Wikipedia, “India contributes 70% of global spice production.”
Spices are used in various forms such as whole, ground, chopped, roasted, fried, etc. Some spices are even added as a flavoring and heated in a pan before being added. Different types of spices have different physical characteristics. And with each spice having stringent quality norms, exporters need to make sure that the spice is export-worthy. This makes it essential that a spice must be cleaned, sorted, and graded before being exported.
Each spice undergoes the three-staged process of cleaning, grading, and sorting before being exported. Use of cutting-edge machinery with state-of-the-art design in this three-staged process adds to the value of the spice and makes it market-worthy. Let us have a closer look at each of the stages.
Cleaning: This is the first stage where the foreign impurities like seeds of other plants, dead waste, and weeds are removed. Different types of machines are used to clean different types of spices and ensure optimum results from the spice cleaning procedure. These machines can remove the foreign matters within a fraction of a second.
The main motive of spice cleaning is to improve the quality of the spice and make it storable for a longer period of time without getting perished.
Sorting: Post-cleaning, the spices are sorted by weight, size, and quality into different groups. The use of optical sorting systems ensure that the spices are sorted efficiently and with precision.
Graded: This is the final stage wherein the spices are graded as to which quality segment they belong. Only the highest quality of spices are exported from India and sold in the domestic market.
These three stages will ensure that the final outcome is well-refined and meets the quality standards set by different countries which export spice from India.
There are a number of companies in the market which manufactures different equipment necessary for cleaning, sorting, and grading of spices. So always make sure that if your into the business of spices, you should put the harvested spices under the three-staged process of cleaning, sorting, and grading. This would enable you to achieve a significant edge over your competitors in the market.