Spice Importation and Grading
Technical Certificate · 20 credit hours · 2 semesters · Division of Food, Fermentation and Culinary Production
Organoleptic grading, adulteration detection, moisture and volatile oil testing, customs documentation, and FDA prior notice filing for imported spice lots. Saffron, vanilla, and cardamom valuation are treated in depth.
A sample lot fee is assessed each term and is published in the Schedule of Charges. Lot quantities vary by term depending on availability at the time of purchase; the program cannot guarantee that the same origin will be available in consecutive terms. The saffron lot is stored in the Division safe and is weighed in the presence of two faculty members.
Curriculum
| Course | Title | Credits | Term |
|---|---|---|---|
| SPI 110 | Spice Botany and Identification | 3 | 1 |
| SPI 120 | Moisture and Volatile Oil Testing | 4 | 1 |
| SPI 140 | Sensory and Organoleptic Method | 3 | 1 |
| SPI 130 | Grading and Valuation | 4 | 2 |
| SPI 210 | Customs Documentation and Prior Notice Filing | 3 | 2 |
| SPI 220 | Adulteration Detection | 3 | 2 |
Graduates
Saffron is graded by nose and eye before any instrument, and the money is entirely in the grade. The volatile-oil course taught me to defend the number to a supplier who disagrees.
Amir Sett, ’24 — Grader, spice wholesaler
Facilities and instruction
Instruction is delivered in the facilities of the Division of Food, Fermentation and Culinary Production. Additional photographs are collected at Campus photographs.
programs/spice-importation-grading · Bellweather College of Applied Technology