Aromas of Seeds & Inspiration

Aromas of Seeds and New Beginnings

Aromas of Seeds are bright, consistent with the aromas of spices. Many of the spices are seeds which means the distilled essential oil captures constituents such as proteins and nutrients from the mother plant. Although the essential oil may have a very similar aroma, it may vary a bit in your experience from smelling the spice at hand.

Angelica seed, and the seeds of Caraway, Cardamom, Carrot, Coriander and Sweet Fennel

are the best known seeds in essential oils. Click on the bold flower name (i.e., Cardamom) to read its profile.

Plant Parts: Seeds and Promises Come True

“Plant parts”, is another term for the anatomy or morphology of a plant. A chosen plant part is seen as a source of remedy in aromatherapy. An aspect of this harkens back to the idea that a plant looks like, or appears like a human body part, and thus the plant would have a reputation for healing that part of the human body.

Plant morphology concentrates on specific therapeutics provided by plant parts. Roots and rhizomes of aromatic plants.

Seeds of aromatic plants:

Seeds are those parts of the plant that encapsulate future plants.

Cardamom

Elettaria cardamomum

Family: Zingiberaceae, the Ginger family (same family as Ginger and Turmeric) of perennial culinary plants. Cardamom is known for its aromatic seeds.

Origin and Biological status: tropical Asia (Southern India, Sri Lanka), Guatemala, El Salvador, Nepal, Indonesia. Green Cardamom is unique among cardamom plants.

Part distilled the seeds

Adulteration: possible with black cardamom (Amomum villosum) which is a larger seed capsule and has more of the component cineole than Green Cardamom.

Season: Harvested year-round, the essential oil is distilled in late Winter. Aromatically, Cardamom has qualities of the elements Fire, Earth, and Metal qualities (heating, stimulating, circulating)

Energetics: neutral to warm

Cardamom in Rituals: Cardamom was an ingredient in incense blends for gatherings in ancient Egypt.

Cardamom in Medicine: Cardamom has a history in Chinese medicine specific for unblocking stagnation, bloating, nausea, with coldness of the spleen and stomach; for nausea and vomiting, and in pregnancy for those same conditions of morning sickness.[i]

Perfumes: accords are formed when two, three, or more single note fragrances are combined. Cardamom is in accord with Jasmine and Frankincense CO2 oils[ii]

[i] MTierra, Chinese Traditional Herbal Medicine, Vol. II, c1998. Lotus Press, Twin Lakes, Wisconsin.

[ii] JPRhind, Listening to Scent, c 2014. Singing Dragon Press, London, Philadelphia

Unusual characteristics: Cardamom was known for its fragrance since ancient times and distilled around the 1500’s in Europe. Rhind describes a powder, Abir, used in Hindu rituals containing Cardamom, Turmeric, Cloves and Sandalwood.

Olfaction: Cardamom essential oil has anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, anti-cancer and anti-emetic activity.[1] The essential oil is made of components that relax air passages, relax smooth muscle, soothe pain, are liver-protective, soothe digestive tract, and are anti-depressant, to name but a few benefits of 1,8 cineole, linalyl acetate, limonene, and linalool found in Cardamom steam-distilled essential oil or CO2 extract.

The scent of Cardamom helps regulate digestive issues, improves respiratory functions, circulation, is liver-protective and down-regulates conditions such as cholesterol.[2]

Traditional medicine’s use of Cardamom extends to asthma, cataracts, cardiac, digestive and kidney ailments.[1]

[1] Ashokkumar, K. et al. Botany, Traditional Uses, Phytochemistry and Biological Activities of cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum (L.) Maton – A Critical Review. J Ethnopharmacology, 2020.

[1] Ballester, et al. Extracts from Zingiberaceae family: Cardamom, Turmeric, and Ginger. Molecules. 2023

[2] Yahyazadeh, R., et al. The Effect of Cardamom on the Metabolic Syndrome: narrative review. Iran Journal of Basic Medical Science., 2021.

Aromatic character: warm, sweet, spicy, with a note of cineole—a camphoraceous aroma, that propels the sweetness and warmth without overpowering it.

Botanical and other illustrations from wikipedia.

REFERENCES for this page include:

Arctander, Stephan. Perfumes and Flavor Materials of Natural Origin. Published 1960 in Elizabeth, NJ.

Holmes, Peter. Aromatica: A Clinical Guide to Essential Oil Therapeutics, Vol 2. Published by Singing Dragon Press, London and Philadelphia, 2019.

Rhind, Jennifer. Fragrance and Wellbeing: Plant Aromatics and Their Influence on the Psyche. Published by Singing Dragon Press, London and Philadelphia, 2014.

Contact me, here, with any comments or questions!