The committee headed by former director, AG Mathew of the regional research laboratory,CSIR, Thiruvananthapuram and comprising experts from ayurvedic research institutions, National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad and Kerala Agricultural University and Central Food Technology Research Institute (CFTRI) was in the process of compiling all available information on various uses of Indian spices, including the latest research done under the subject.

The idea is to provide a ready reckoner on Indian spices and itsproducts which would certainly help in contesting and even pre-empting grant of such patents, Mathew said. Jayasankar said India was the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices and this commodities had been used from the dawn of history not merely for seasoning and flavouring of food but for various pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes. "In fact, spices form a major group of nutraceuticals which are widely used in alternative medical systems like ayurveda, homeopathy, sidha vaidya and the like," he said.

Jayasankar recalled that two years ago a US-based firm had managed to obtain a patent for curcumin, the active principle in turmeric, for its healing properties. The council of scientific industrial research filed an objection before the US patent office and it took nearly three years to get a favourable decision in the matter, he added.

Subsequently, another US firm had of late obtained patent rights for use of piprine a derivative from pepper for enhancing bio-availability of nutritionalcompounds. This time the issue was taken up by the Board and the legal battle with the US patent office was on, Jayasankar said.

"The problem is that we often come to know about such patents being given very late and it takes at least two to three years to fight such cases," he said, adding that it was in this context that the Board had decided to come out with a compendium of Indian spices to avert such patenting moves which he said were unintentional in many cases and even due to lack of information about the country's achievements in the field. Dr Mathew said the committee was making every effort to compile maximum information that lay scattered in various books, research works, magazines, historical treatises, on the chemistry, technology, health, medicinal, culinary, cosmetic, curative, antimicrobial, antiyretic and nutritional aspects of various Indian spices.

The five major spices which constitute the subject matter of the first volume of the compendium were those on which maximum scientificresearch work had been done, he said.

The committee was constituted after consulting various research institutions including leading ayurvedic and scientific research foundations like the Kottkkal Arya Vaidyasala, National Institute of Nutrition and Indian Institute of Spices Research.