THE TOP 3 EXPENSIVE SPICES IN THE WORLD 

TOP 3 : CARDAMOM 

The cardamom is the third most expensive spice in the world. Cardamom is the common name for Elletaria cardomomum whose aromatic seeds are used as spice. They are small seed pods, triangular in cross-section, spindle shaped with a thin papery outer shell and small black seeds. It is native to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia and Nepal. It is cultivated in India, Guatemala, China, Vietnam and Laos. There are 2 types of cardamom, one is true or green cardamom and another is black cardamom. The active principles present in the essential oil of cardamom seeds are cineole, teripinyl acetate, pinene, sabinene  and porneol. Cardamom sometimes may be sold in the market cheaply after the extraction of essential oils. These are expensive because of labour intensive harvesting process.

TOP 2: VANILLA

Vanilla is the top 2 expensive spice in the world. It belongs to Vanilla planifolia. In India, Western ghats region of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are having ideal agro climatic conditions for Vanilla cultivation. The plant is a climbing orchid from Central America. The active principle in vanilla is Vanillin. Synthetic vanilla is much cheaper than that of the natural product. It imparts the flavour and it is used in ice creams, custards, puddings and cakes. It is so expensive because the flowers have to be artificially hand pollinated and once ripened, the fruits also have to be hand picked. This is a labour intensive process and requires daily harvesting. 

TOP 1: SAFFRON

Saffron is the first expensive spice in the world. Crocus sativas is cultivated mostly in the dry land of Kashmir valley. It is expensive because 1700 flowers are needed to make 18 g of pure saffron. Each filament can colour 700 times its own weight in water. The colour of the saffron is due to crocin, picro crocin, beta carotene and glycosides.