During the past fifty years, much research work has been earned out in various spices. However no comprehensive exercise lias been made to collect and collate the achievements of the past. Documentation is as important as research itself. Without proper documentation there is always the peril of someone Irving to "reinvent the wheel".

I feel privileged to present this volume to the spices workers of India. Everyone who matters in spices research in India has found a place in this volume as an author or co-author. Every major achievement on spices, on which research work is going on in India, has been incorporated in the text, making this into a very valuable database.

This volume contains 31 chapters, out of which the first seven are of general nature, covering the general topics pertaining to spices and spices research. 1 he first one is an introductory chapter that gives a detailed treatment on definitions, classification of spices, condiments and herbs and then briefly traces the history of spices in India from ancient to the present. This chapter also gives a general treatment on the use of spices in cooking, medicine, and their use as bioceuticals, and also the role of spices in the socio-cultural history of India. The subsequent chapters deal with production and export, genetic resources, varieties developed, biotechnological approaches and medicinal applications.

I hope that this voluminous compilation will be useful to all those who are interested in spices in one-way or other. This will remain as the only single volume database on the first 50 years of spices research in India. I hope that this volume will be read and referred by students and research workers for many decades to come or as long as spices research remains active. I do hope diat the legacy of many spices research workers will remain alive through the pages of this book. I salute all of them, all those who have gone ahead, and all those who walked along. With all humility I place this volume before the spices workers of India and die Nation at large.