Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)
Elettaria cardamomum
Western and Ayurvedic herbalism
Western and Ayurvedic herbalism

Cardamom

Elettaria cardamomum

Also known as green cardamom, small cardamom, true cardamom, Cardamon, Cardomom Seeds, Malabar cardamoms; Cardamomum Malabaricum, Cardamomum minus, Cardamom seeds, Ela, Sukshmaila, Truti.

CoolingDryingWarmingMoisteningTaste: PungentTaste: SweetTaste: AromaticTaste: Bitter

Elettaria cardamomum is a tall, leafy perennial of the ginger family native to the moist evergreen forests of the Western Ghats in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where it is still grown under forest shade; the dried green pods with their black aromatic seeds are the spice. Ayurveda calls it Ela and counts it among the digestive aromatics that are gentle enough for every constitution, adding it to milk, tea and formulas to kindle digestion, settle nausea, clear phlegm and sweeten the breath. It is the small or true cardamom, distinguished from the larger, coarser black cardamom of the eastern Himalaya.

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Actions

CarminativeAromatic digestiveAntiemeticAntispasmodicExpectorantMild diureticAntimicrobialBreath freshenerAntioxidantHypotensive (mild)StomachicCholagogueAromaticDiaphoreticMucolyticDigestive tonicwarmingAromatic digestive stimulantWarming digestive tonicCirculatory stimulantMild antimicrobialWarming stomachicFlavoring corrigent

Indications what the tradition reached for it in

Specific indications

The patient whose digestion is sluggish and gassy but who cannot tolerate ginger or black pepper because they bring on heartburn and flushing

Nausea of pregnancy or of travel, relieved by chewing a few seeds, in someone with a bitter or coated mouth

A child or elderly person with a wet cough and poor appetite who needs a gentle aromatic added to milk or porridge

Bad breath with a heavy tongue coating after rich meals, where the gut rather than the teeth is the source

Flatulent colic with cramping griping pain relieved by warmth and aromatic stimulation

Cold, sluggish digestion with bloating and a heavy, dull feeling after meals

Safety

Pregnancy: Pregnancy Caution

Breastfeeding: Lactation (source flag notSafeInLactation)

The record lists 6 contraindications; open the plate in the library to read them in full.

In practice

Ela is the aromatic that Ayurveda uses when a hotter spice would be too much. It kindles digestion, moves gas downward and settles nausea without the fire of ginger or pepper, so it is the digestive of choice for pitta patients, children, the pregnant and the elderly.

In Ayurveda

Rasa: katu (pungent), madhura (sweet). Virya: sheeta (cooling), described by some as mildly heating. Vipaka: madhura (sweet). Guna: laghu (light), ruksha (dry). Dosha: pacifies all three doshas, especially vata and kapha; gentle enough for pitta in moderation. Karma: deepana (kindles digestion); pachana (digestive); rochana (improves taste and appetite); hridya (cardiac tonic); mukhashodhana (cleanses the mouth); chardinigrahana (stops vomiting); mutrala (diuretic); kaphahara (reduces phlegm); shwasahara (relieves dyspnea); anulomana (carries downward, relieves gas). Classical indications: agnimandya (weak digestion); aruchi (loss of appetite); chardi (vomiting); adhmana (abdominal distension); kasa and shvasa (cough and dyspnea); mutrakricchra (painful urination); hridroga (heart disease); mukhadaurgandhya (bad breath); trishna (thirst); arsha (hemorrhoids). The dried green pods are opened and the aromatic seeds crushed fresh for churna; the seed is added to milk, teas and decoctions, chewed whole after meals, and used as an anupana and corrective in many compound formulas. Classical formulations: Eladi churna, Eladi vati, Eladi taila, Sitopaladi churna, Avipattikara churna, Chyawanprash, Hingvashtaka churna (some versions), Talisadi churna. Described in: Charaka Samhita, Sushruta Samhita, Ashtanga Hridaya, Bhavaprakasha Nighantu, Dhanvantari Nighantu, Raja Nighantu, Sharngadhara Samhita, Kaiyadeva Nighantu, Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India.

Dosing as the sources wrote it

PreparationAs writtenMetric
Churna0.5-1 g freshly crushed seed two to three times daily with honey or warm water500-1000 mg
Whole seed2-4 seeds chewed after meals
Infusion50-100 mL infusion of 1-2 g crushed seed, taken after meals50-100 mL
Tincture (1:5, 60%)1-3 mL three times daily1-3 mL
Essential oil1-2 drops in honey once or twice daily, short term only0.02-0.04 mL
Tea/decoction: 1 tsp crushed seeds/cup, 1-3x daily

Doses are reproduced from the sources for practitioners and are not a recommendation for any person.

From the sources

Overview. Elettaria cardamomum is a tall, leafy perennial of the ginger family native to the moist evergreen forests of the Western Ghats in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, where it is still grown under forest shade; the dried green pods with their black aromatic seeds are the spice. Ayurveda calls it Ela and counts it among the digestive aromatics that are gentle enough for every constitution, adding it to milk, tea and formulas to kindle digestion, settle nausea, clear phlegm and sweeten the breath. It is the small or true cardamom, distinguished from the larger, coarser black cardamom of the eastern Himalaya.

Overview. Cardamom is the dried fruit and seed of a tall reed-like perennial of the ginger family, native to the moist forested hills of Malabar in southern India and now cultivated widely across South and Southeast Asia. The three-sided capsules enclose small dark seeds that carry a strong, fragrant, pungent volatile oil, which is the true medicinal and culinary virtue of the plant. In Western herbal practice, especially the physiomedicalist and Eclectic traditions, cardamom seed has long served as a warming carminative adjunct rather than a primary remedy, added to bitter, purgative or tonic formulas to make them more palatable and to prevent griping.

Overview. Cardamom seed is the dried, decapsulated fruit of Elettaria cardamomum, a tall perennial herb of the ginger family native to the moist forested hills of the Malabar coast of southern India and now cultivated widely across South and Southeast Asia. The small dark seeds inside the pale green to straw colored capsule carry a warm, resinous, faintly camphoraceous aroma that has made cardamom prized both as a spice and as a medicine across Ayurvedic, Unani, and Western eclectic traditions. In nineteenth century American eclectic practice it was valued chiefly as a pleasant, effective carminative and as a corrective flavoring agent for tinctures and compound preparations.

Clinical Notes. GRAS in food amounts used as digestive adjuvant and harmonizer in formulas avoid medicinal doses in gallstone patients traditional use in Ayurveda, TCM, Western herbalism ]

Drawn from Cook's Physio-Medical Dispensatory; King's American Dispensatory, 18th edition (Felter and Lloyd); Felter's Eclectic Materia Medica, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and the Bountiful Herbs editorial.

In formulas

Cardamom stands in 117 documented formulas in the library, among them Tinctura Cardamomi Composita, Tinctura Gentianae Composita, Compound Tincture of Gentian, Ayaskṛti, Aravindāsava, Aśvagandhādyariṣṭa, Ahiphenāsava.

Often paired with

Ceylon cinnamonCinnamomum zeylanicumIndian bay leafCinnamomum tamalalong pepperPiper longumGingerZingiber officinaleblack pepperPiper nigrumnut grassCyperus rotundus

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