Book excerpt: The term Spice and Condiments applies to natural plant or vegetable products or mixtures in whole or ground form, which are used for imparting flavour, aroma and piquancy to the food items. Spices and condiments are a major commercial crop in India, and earn a major part of foreign exchange annually. They have been the backbone of agricultural industry. The importance of spices and condiment in dietary, medicinal and other uses, and their commercial importance are immense. India is known the world over as the home of spices. Thus spices are an important group of agricultural goods, which are virtually indispensable in the culinary art. Spice processing includes different steps: spice cleaning, spice reconditioning and spice grinding. Some spices were also used for preserving food like meat for a year or more without refrigeration. In the 16th century cloves for instance were among the spices used to preserve food without refrigeration. Cloves contain a chemical called eugenol that inhibits the growth of bacteria. It is a natural antibiotic. It is still used to preserve food like Virginia Ham. Likewise later mustard and ground mustard were also found to have preservative qualities. India alone contributes 25 30 % of the total world trade in spices. It may be interesting to note that nine spices namely pepper ginger clove cinnamon cassia mace nutmeg pimento (allspice) and cardamom alone contributed as much as 90% of the total world trade. Pepper is the most important spice in the world and so also of India. This book basically deals with brief history of spices, uses of spices, world trade in spices area & production of spices in India, area and production of spices in India, major and minor spices of India, spice processing, quality issues with spices, bird chillies and Tabasco chillies, basil or sweet basil, seasoning blend duplication and tricks, sauces and gravies, snack seasonings, quality issues with spices, etc. This book is a single compendium which deals with all aspects and facts of spices and condiments which may meet the requirements of all those handling them at various stages, from harvesting to their end use. This book contains post harvest management, the potentials of genetic engineering, high production technology in spices with plantation and processing of various spices and condiments such as vanilla, turmeric, tamarind, saffron, black pepper, onion, mint, ginger, garlic, curry leaf, coriander etc.