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Spice was valuable long before anyone complained about grinding machines.

In ancient Rome, black pepper was so precious that some used to exchange it for silver. Sri Lankan cinnamon trails were kept guarded as a secret. The great ocean voyages of Europe took place, primarily for the sake of ready access to a faster and fresher supply of pepper, cloves, and cardamom from India and Southeast Asia.

Spice was already out and around from the Malabar coast and from the ports of Gujarat before the Europeans arrived here. The interesting part is that people weren't just buying the spice; they were buying how fresh and aromatic it still was after traveling such a long distance. A stale, smelly spice was of lesser value than one that was not stale.

What is Cryogenic grinding? 

Cryogenic grinding cools down spices to as low as -196°C with liquid nitrogen. Cryogenic grinding is a low-temperature grinding process that keeps spices cold during milling. In regular grinding, it can push spice temperature into 90-120°C, which wears off essential oils.

This prevents heat from building up and helps maintain essential oils, flavours, as well its natural colour and aroma. Cryogenic grinding at its core is about keeping spices cool so they stay as fresh and flavourful in their natural form. Most importantly, this is true for the oil-rich spices: cumin, turmeric, cardamom, cloves, coriander, fennel, black pepper.

Why Old-Fashioned Grinding Will Not Do

 Friction always generates heat, and a standard mill can go way beyond the point where volatile oils begin to vaporize. Pre-packing, aroma drops away, colour dulls, and when spices are exposed to heat for too long, they can lose their fresh flavour and develop a slightly burnt taste. All of which are invisible to the label but visible in the pack.

How is cryogenic grinding done?

➢    Pre-cooling: The spice is frozen with liquid nitrogen until hard and brittle, like frozen glass. A brittle spice snaps cleanly instead of being ground up, which is what makes heat later.

➢    Milling: The spice is ground while the chilled spice is kept under a constant flow of nitrogen to keep the temperature from rising again, so grinding never “cooks” the spice.

➢    Classification: The powder is screened. The coarse bits go back to the mill, while the fine powder is allowed to pass on. This gives a fine, even powder.

➢    Quality check: A sample is tested for oil content, aroma, and colour to ensure it is up to the standard expected.

➢    Sealing: The powder is immediately put into airtight, moisture-proof packages to lock in what the steps before have saved.

Benefits of cryogenic grinding

➢    Clearer aroma - oils don't get cooked off during milling.

➢    More true to colour – turmeric stays gold, chilli stays deep red.

➢    Extended shelf life – less loss of oil and moisture means the product lasts longer.

➢    Less waste. Nothing melts or sticks to the equipment while you grind.

➢    More even and finer texture – a brittle spice breaks up evenly.

What Spices Help the Most?

Oil-rich spices work best for cumin, cloves, chilli, turmeric, black pepper, cardamom, and coriander. Lower-oil spices still benefit, if more in colour and texture than aroma.

Is There Any Real Research Behind This?

Yes. It is more than just a marketing idea.  This has been directly measured by the ICAR’s National Research Centre on Seed Spices, Ajmer, and other peer-reviewed research:

Research shows that cryogenic grinding preserves significantly more of a spice's natural flavour and aroma than conventional grinding. Studies report 62.56% higher volatile oil retention in cumin, 129.5% higher oil retention in cloves, increased volatile oil retention in black pepper (1.35% to 1.91%), and 87–90% oleoresin plus 76–79% curcumin retention in turmeric, helping spices retain their natural freshness, aroma, and colour for longer.

Why does the Indian spice industry matter?

The Spices Board of India recorded a record high of ₹39,994.48 crore in spice exports for FY 2024-25 as India continued to be the world’s largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices. International buyers now expect to get spices that will perform consistently after weeks in transit and months in storage. Processing method has emerged as one of the most transparent ways a supplier can prove that, not just say it, and that’s why cryogenic mill adoption is on the rise across Gujarat, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan.

Adoption Costs and Why it is Increasing

The setup cost is ₹25-70 lakh depending on the capacity. Then there is a recurring supply of nitrogen and trained staff. Programs like PMFME offer a subsidy of about 35% of project cost (up to ₹10 lakh), along with MSME and Spices Board assistance, one of the reasons why adoption is growing, but still not universal.

How Shaman Spices Do It

At Shaman, cryogenic grinding is not a retrofit; it’s the way our plant has operated from day one. The grinding line is fully automatic with minimal manual handling of the spice during milling and supports both hygiene and consistency batch after batch. Each batch is tested in-house for oil content, aroma, taste, and colour before it is passed to pack, and anything that does not meet our quality standards does not go out under the Shaman name. Our manufacturing process is supported by recognised quality and food safety certifications. That standard applies before the grinder: we work directly with farmers and inspect spice at the source, because no amount of processing can improve material that wasn’t good to begin with. The facility also offers direct employment to people in the local community.

Cryogenic grinding is not a marketing label, but a documented and physically distinct method of spice processing. The research is consistent: heat destroys what cold grinding preserves. That’s the standard the entire process runs on at Shaman.