|
Today is :
Archives (2001)
'It's time you put
some spice into your life'
by Maria Rowena Briones |
April-June
2001
|
This could well be the slogan for encouraging
farmers to grow spices and consumers to promote the use of
spices in their cooking. Local market base is needed to enable
our spice industry to gain a share of the world market for
spices. By increasing our spice production, we can also lessen
the amount of spices that we import.
 |
|
Sweet Basil
|
Spices are any vegetable product or mixture,
in whole or ground form whose significant function is to flavor,
season and preserve or impart color and aroma to foods.
The Philippines is a net importer of spices.
From 1991-1996, the country imported an annual average of
1,400 tons of spices, reaching almost 2,000 tons in 1996 and
valued at $3.4 million while exports had an annual average
of 150 tons at $0.2 million. The bulk of these exports are
pepper. The feasibility of producing locally some of the imported
spices such as sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) have
not been looked into.
Sweet basil is a popular savory herb used to
impart a fragrant, warm, and sweet flavor with pungent and
clove-like notes to dishes and drinks. The leaves complement
many soups, salads, and vegetable dishes. Sweet basil is also
often used along with tomatoes. In Italian cooking, the leaves
are used in pizzas, pasta, chicken and cheese dishes; in France,
in omelettes and soups. The leaves are a source of essential
oil and oleoresin mainly applied in industry to flavor baked
goods, sauces, pickles, vinegar, and meat products, and to
modify flavor of some liquors.
Sweet basil is adaptable to wide range of conditions
favorable for vegetable production and grows spontaneously.
It is propagated through seeds or cuttings. It is sown evenly
at a depth of 2-10 millimeters in germination boxes on a previously
moistened medium consisting of equal parts of compost or farm
manure, garden soil, and river sand. Watering is done gently
using a hand sprayer. It needs at least five hours of daily
direct sunlight and 12 hours of artificial light if grown
indoors and grows best on fertile, light and well- drained
soils since it has a relatively high nitrogen and water requirement.
Once established, sweet basil seedlings grow rapidly. When
plants have reached a height of 50-70 cm, branching starts.
Pinching out its tip encourages vegetative growth. It is best
harvested prior to the start of its flowering or 3-4 months
after planting.
In harvesting, sweet basil is cut 10-15 cm above
the ground to ensure regrowth and subsequent harvests after
15-20 days. Yield is estimated at seven tons per hectare of
fresh leaves per harvest. Before processing, Sweet basil leaves
and branches are washed and dried at temperatures not exceeding
35 deg C and are chopped to specific sizes and graded.
Sweet basil is produced in small quantities
in Cavite and its market is limited to first-class hotels
and specialty-food restaurants. But its popularity is growing
as health food, including its use for pastas and Italian foods.
These are the in thing nowadays thus offering new opportunities
for farmers who want to diversify their agricultural produce.
(For more information, please contact: Dr.
Lun G. Mateo, Dennis R. Cacho, Anacleto F. Bala, Central Luzon
State University, Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. Tel. No. (044)-456-0704) More Articles:
Vol. 3 No. 2
April-June 2001
»»
CERDAF approves five addt'l national programs
»» IPB recommends
organic farming for vegetables
»» The
growing Philippine vegetable industry: obstacles and opportunities
»» Growing
vegetables without soil
»» MMSU
recommends off season tomato hybrids
»» Halamanan
sa BPI: Farming the City
»» Dump
that damping-off diseases
»» Grafting
effective in producing off- season tomato
»» 'It's
time you put some spice into your life'
»» A
Commodity Feature Cultivating the Aromatic Garlic
»»
Vegetable gardening at the rooftop?
»» National
Integrated RDE Agenda and Program for Vegetable
»» DA
launches AFP livelihood program
»» The
Gulayan at Bulaklakan Project: creating greener pastures for urban dwellers
[More
2001 Articles]
|
