Celery 333
18.8.2 Powdered celery seed specifications
Celery powder is produced by grinding dried, cleaned and sterilized celery seed.
Celery powder is made by pulverizing dry seeds and at least 95% of the ground spice
shall pass through a US Standard No. 55 sieve (Farrell, 1999) After sieving through
the required mesh size the powder should be packed in airtight containers. Celery
seed is ground to release the flavour, the finer the powder, the more readily available
the flavour and readily dispensable in the matrix. Some flavour may be lost by heat
development during grinding. The loss can be minimized by adopting cryo-milling
and freeze grinding. Celery powder is yellowish brown with an aromatic slightly
camphoraceous odour and taste. The following precautions should be taken for
production of celery powder.
∑ minimum moisture level to increase storage life
∑ cryo-milling or freeze grinding to minimize the volatile oil and flavour loss
∑ particle size as per specified mesh size to ensure free flow
∑ airtight and safe packaging
∑ ensure microbiological cleanliness
In addition to the specific celery seed powder specifications mentioned above, the
whole celery seed specifications should be strictly followed.
18.8.3 Volatile oil specifications
∑ The volatile oil content of celery seeds averages 2.5 to 3.0% and it contains
primarily 60% d-limonene, 10% d-selinene, 2.5–3.0% sedanolide, 0.5% sedanomic
anhydride and a fixed oil content of 15% (Farrell, 1999).∑ The aroma of celery seed oil is warm, spicy, slightly fatty, fruity, penetrating and
very persistent. Its flavour gives a burning sensation and is very bitter.
The physiochemical properties of celery volatile oil are given in Table 18.9.
18.8.4 Celery oleoresin specifications
∑ Celery seed oleoresin should be a green liquid having a volatile content of at
least 9 ml/100 gm.
∑ The oleoresin should have a lemon-like aroma, be tenacious and have a sweet
herbal tone.
∑ The oleoresin should be prepared with the recommended organic solvents followed
by the subsequent removal of the solvent as per importing country specifications.
Table 18.8 Cleanliness specifications for celery in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and ESA
(maximum limits)
Specifications Extraneous Moisture Total ash Acid insoluble
for celery matter %/weight %/weight %/weight ash%/weight
Germany – 10.0 12.0 2.5
Netherlands – 12.0 10.0 2.5
UK 1.0 14.0 11.0 2.0
ESA 1.0 11.0 12.0 3.0
Source: European Spice Association.