Cardamom Seed
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This article is compiled based on the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) – 2025 Edition
Issued and maintained by the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (USP)
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1 DEFINITION
Cardamom Seed is the dried ripe seed of Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton var. cardamomum (Fam. Zingiberaceae).
[Note—Cardamom Seed should be recently removed from the capsule.]
2 CONTAMINANTS
Articles of Botanical Origin 〈561〉, Pesticide Residue Analysis: Meets the requirements
3 SPECIFIC TESTS
3.1 Botanical Characteristics
3.1.1 Macroscopic
Unground Cardamom Seed: Seeds usually appear in agglutinated groups of 2–7 seeds and as separate seeds surrounded by an adhering membranous aril. The individual seeds are oblong-ovoid or irregularly three- to four-sided, 3–4 mm in length. They are convex on the dorsal side, strongly longitudinally grooved on the ventral side, coarsely tuberculated, and externally pale orange to dark brown. The odor is aromatic. The taste is aromatic, pungent, and slightly bitter.
Powdered Cardamom Seed: Brown to weak yellow to light olive green
3.2 Microscopic
Unground Cardamom Seed: Sections show a loosely attached membranous aril; a brownish seed coat consisting of an epidermal layer of thick-walled cells, a pigment layer of small cells with red to orange contents, a layer of volatile oil cells with suberized walls and a single layer of radially elongated, strongly lignified stone cells with inner walls heavily thickened, and a minute lumen containing silica; and a large, colorless perisperm surrounding a central, orange to yellow endosperm in which a small, straight embryo is embedded.
Powdered Cardamom Seed: It consists chiefly of fragments of perisperm, endosperm, embryo, and seed coat. The endosperm and perisperm cells are filled with starch grains 1–4 μm in diameter, or may contain one or more prisms of calcium oxalate 10–25 μm in diameter. The seed coat is characterized by its red- to orange-colored cells, is polygonal in surface view, and is about 20 μm in diameter. Fragments of pericarp tissue with spiral vessels and with accompanying slightly lignified fibers are relatively few.
3.3 Articles of Botanical Origin 〈561〉, Methods of Analysis, Acid-Insoluble Ash:
NMT 4.0%
4 ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
Packaging and Storage: Preserve against attack by insects.
Labeling: The label states the Latin binomial and the official name.
