Sri Lanka has been the center of the spice trade throughout history. The main spice unique to Sri Lanka is Cinnamon. The country has attained a long-standing reputation in the global market with its quality, uniqueness, color and aroma. Cinnamon bark is used traditionally as medicine throughout the world. Cinnamon is best for reducing blood sugar levels and cholesterol, preventing cancer cell growth, and supporting weight reduction.Cassia is the main competitor for the “Ceylon cinnamon”, which mainly comes from China. “Ceylon Cinnamon” also referred to as “sweet cinnamon” and “true cinnamon” which is considered superior than the Cassia. Further “Ceylon Cinnamon” contains minimum amount of cumarin compared to cassia, which is harmful to human body. Because mof the above facts, “Ceylon Cinnamon” has a longlasting market in the global market.

Cloves, which are the flower buds of a form of evergreen tree, originate from the Maluku Islands, Indonesia. They are primarily used as a spice, but are also used for medicine, fragrance (pomander) and clove cigars. Cloves are harvested and traded mainly in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Pakistan, Tanzania and Zanzibar. When it comes to culinary purposes cloves are used in Asian, African, Mexican and Middle Eastern cuisine. They are most often used to add depth to meats, curries and marinade.

Another spice native to the Moluccas region in Indonesia, cloves are a mainstay of Indian Ayurveda and traditional Chinese medicine. Widely recognized for its warm, sweet aroma, cloves and/or its derivations are used in everything from herbal medicines to perfumes.

Cloves grown in Sri Lanka are believed to have a higher oil content compared to cloves from other parts of the world (clove oil is the single most important derivation of the spice). We’re not quite sure, but this might have something to with the climatic conditions of the Kandy, Kegalle, and Matale districts, where cloves are primarily grown.

Known as the “King” of spices, black pepper (Piper nigrum), a perennial crop of the tropics, is economically the most important and the most widely used spice crop of the world.

The Sri Lankan Pepper has higher piperine content which gives it a superior quality and pungency. Pepper is offered in different grades for grinding and extraction of essential oils and oleoresins. In Sri Lanka pepper is grown in the wet and intermediate zones mostly as mixed crops.

In Sri Lanka pepper is mainly cultivated in Low and mid country wet and Intermediate agro-climatic zones. Total extent of pepper in Sri Lanka is about 29,378ha and Matale, Kandy, Kegalle, Badulla, Ratnapura, Monaragala and Kurunagala are the major districts.

The Nutmeg tree belongs to the family Myristicaceae and its species name is Myristica fragrans. It is evergreen and grows to a maximum height of about 20m. The flowers are unisexual while the leaves are dark green and alternate. Nonetheless, bisexual flowers also exist.

The fruits are fleshy and broad. They also have longitudinal ridges along their circumference. During ripening, the fruit’s color changes to yellow. Moreover splitting of the pericarp into two halves also occurs thereby exposing the seeds. These seeds are shiny and are covered by red aril.

The nutmeg tree produces two commercial products: Nutmeg and Mace.