Indian Institute of Spices Research

Our History

Crop Improvement Division of ICAR-IISR possesses world’s largest germplasm collection in various spices. Conservation of secondary genepool is also initiated for major spices such As Garden of Gingers, Piper house, Tree spices and Vanillarium. A total of 36 high yielding and high quality spices varieties have been released. Vegetative and micro propagation techniques for the spice crops were standardized.

The Division of Crop Improvement has had a long and lustrous history that spans some 50 years. Since its inception, the Division has provided a home to innovative scientists who had made it their lives’ work to contribute to spices improvement there by doubling the farmers’ income. Crop Improvement & Biotechnology Division’s commitment has added up to the significant advancements in spices science and technologies in terms of new varieties with high yield, quality and tolerance to biotic stresses.

Name of Head of the Division	Period of service	Specialization
Dr. T.E. Sheeja	July 2025 - till date	Biotechnology
Dr. K.V. Saji	Jun 2022 - July 2025	Economic Botany
Dr. J. Rema	Feb 2018 – May 2022	Horticulture Science
Dr. B. Sasikumar	Dec 2013 - Jan 2018	Plant Breeding
Sri. B. Krishnamoorthy	Jan 1999 - Nov 2013	Plant Breeding
Dr. P.N. Ravindran	1995 - Jan 1999	Botany and Cytogenetics

Our Team

Name	Designation	Specialization
Scientific
Dr. T. E. Sheeja	Principal Scientist & Head	Plant Biotechnology
Dr. Divya P Syamaladevi	Senior Scientist	Agricultural Biotechnology
Dr. Sajesh VK	Senior Scientist	Agricultural Extension
Dr. Muhammed Azharudheen TP	Senior Scientist	Plant Breeding and Genetics
Dr. Sharon Aravind	Senior Scientist	Spices, Plantation, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
Dr. S. Aarthi	Senior Scientist	Spices & Plantation Crops
Dr. Honnappa Asangi	Senior Scientist	Spices, Plantation, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
Dr. Akshitha H J	Senior Scientist	Spices, Plantation, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants
Dr. Maneesha S.R.	Senior Scientist	Fruit Science
Dr. Vinu V	Senior Scientist	Genetics and Plant Breeding
Dr. M. S. Shivakumar	Senior Scientist	Genetics and Plant Breeding
Dr. Mukesh Sankar .S	Senior Scientist	Plant Breeding and Genetics
Mr. V A. Muhammed Nissar	Scientist	Horticulture
Dr. Sona Charles	Scientist	Agricultural Bioinformatics
Technical
Mr. A Sudhakaran	Assistant Chief Technical Officer	Art and Photography
Mr. Sujeesh E. S	Assistant Chief Technical Officer
Dr. Vijesh Kumar I P	Senior Technical Assistant
Ms. Rabisha	Senior Technical Assistant
Mr. V. S. Binoy	Technical Assistant
Mr. Debayan Banarjee	Technician

Research Programs

1. Conservation and characterization of Piper germplasm (2008- 2025) [Dr. Muhammed Azharudheen T.P, Dr. M.S. Shivakumar, Dr. Honnappa Asangi, Dr. R. Sivaranjani & Dr. Maneesha S.R.]

2. Conservation, characterization, evaluation and improvement of Zingiber and Curcuma sp. (2007-2026) [Dr. S. Aarthi, Dr. V. Vinu, Dr. H. J. Akshitha, Dr. D. Prasath, Dr. Anees K & Mr. V. A. Muhammmed Nissar] (External support: Dr. C. N. Biju)

3. Identification of core collection, characterization, and maintenance of cardamom germplasm (2012- 2025) [Dr. Honnappa Asangi, Dr. S. J. Ankegowda, Dr.H. J. Akshitha, Dr. Mohammed Faisal Peeran, Dr. M. Balaji Rajkumar & Ms Sivaranjani R]

4. Genetic resources management in tree spices and vanilla (2018- 2028) [Mr. V. A. Muhammed Nissar, Dr. Sharon Aravind, Dr. Honnappa Asangi, Dr. Muhammed Azharudheen T.P, Dr. Maneesha S.R. Dr. Aarthi S, Dr. Sivaranjani R, Dr. Mohammed Faisal Peeran][External support: Dr. Shivakumar M.S., & Dr. Anees K]

5. Breeding black pepper for high yield, quality, and resistance to stresses (2012-2025) [Dr. M.S. Shivakumar, Dr. K.S. Krishnamurthy, Dr. Muhammed Azharudheen T. P. & Mr. Mukesh Sankar S.] [External support: Dr. S. J. Ankegowda, Dr. Biju]

6. Evolving high yielding, biotic and abiotic stress resistant cardamom lines through selection and hybridization (2018 - 2029) [Dr. H. J. Akshitha, Dr. S. J. Ankegowda, Dr. M. Balaji Rajkumar, Dr. M. S. Shivakumar, Dr. Mohammed Faisal Peeran & Dr. Honappa Asangi]

7. Screening and evaluation of black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) genotypes for nutrient use efficiency (2023-2028) (Dr. Maneesha S.R., Dr. M. S. Shivakumar, Dr. V. Srinivasan, Dr. T. E. Sheeja, Dr. K. S. Krishnamurthy & Dr. Shamsudheen. M)

8. Rootstock breeding in nutmeg and black pepper for enhanced yield, tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses (2023- 2028) (Dr. Sharon Aravind, Dr. Maneesha S. R., Mr. V A Muhammad Nissar, Dr. K. S. Krishnamurthy & Dr. C N. Biju)

9. Development and evaluation of chemically induced ginger mutants for Pythium tolerance (2025-2030) [Dr Vinu V, Dr. S. Aarthi, Dr. Dr. T.E. Sheeja, Dr. Praveena R.]

10. Development of doubled haploid production in black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) (2025-2030) [Dr. Mukesh Sankar S, Dr. Sharon Aravind, Dr. TE Sheeja, Dr. M.S. Shivakumar]

11. DNA fingerprinting and barcoding in spices (2018 - 2026) (Dr. T.E. Sheeja, Mr. Mukesh Sankar S, Dr. Muhammed Azharudheen T.P. & Dr. Maneesha S.R.)

12. Identification and characterization of gene editing targets for disease resistance in ginger (2021-2026) (Dr. P. S. Divya, & Dr. C.N. Biju) (External support: Dr. T.E. Sheeja & Dr. D. Prasath)

13. Development of data-driven pipelines and tools for multiple high throughput sequencing data from spices (2022-2026) (Dr. Sona Charles & Dr. T. E
Sheeja)

14. Genomics-assisted identification of trait-specific markers for major biotic and abiotic stresses and development of core collections of black pepper (2021- 2026) (Dr. T. E. Sheeja, Dr. K.S. Krishnamurthy, Dr. M.S. Shivakumar, Dr.
Sona Charles, Dr. Muhammed Azharudheen T.P, Dr. U.B.Angadi & Dr. Sunil Kumar)

15. DUS project (2010-2025) [Dr. Sharon Aravind, Dr. Vinu V, Dr. S. Aarthi, Dr.H. J. Akshitha, Dr. Maneesha S.R. & Dr. Muhammed Azharudheen T.P] (External support: Dr. M. S. Shivakumar & Dr. Honnappa Asangi)

16. Enabling climate resilience and ensuring food and nutritional security through genome editing in horticultural crops (2024-2026) Sub project: Application of genome editing to develop trait-specific varieties/hybrids in ginger crops [Dr. Divya P. S., Dr. T.E. Sheeja, Dr. Biju C. N., Dr. Praveena R.] Sub project: Application of genome editing to develop trait-specific varieties/hybrids in black pepper [Dr. Mohammed Faisal Peeran & Dr. Sharon Aravind]

17. Integrating whole genome resequencing transcriptome sequencing and genome wide association analysis for allele mining of yield and quality traits in black pepper and cardamom (2024-2027) [Dr.T.E. Sheeja, Dr.M.S. Shivakumar, Dr.S. Mukesh Sankar, Dr. Muhammed Azharudheen T.P., Dr. Sona Charles, Dr. Akshitha H.J., Dr. Honnappa Asangi]

18. National Network Project on Crop Bioinformatics (2024-2029) [Dr. D. Prasath, Dr. Sona Charles, Dr Anees K]

19. Establishment of efficient in vitro techniques for the production of amide alkaloids from Piper longum L. (2024-2027) [Dr. Sharon Aravind, Dr. R. Sivaranjani)

Genetic Resources of Spices

ICAR-IISR possesses world's largest germplasm collection of spice crops. The division of Crop Improvement and Biotechnology explores, collects and conserves the genetic resources of major spice crops in the field gene banks and germplasm blocks situated in various campuses.

Crop	Cultivated accessions	No. of wild/ related accession	No. of exotic accessions	Total no. accessions	Location
Black pepper (Piper nigrum)	1868	1634	09	3511	ICAR-IISR, Chelavur& Experimental farm, Peruvannamuzhi
Ginger (Zingiber officinale)	640	28	-	668	Experimental farm, Peruvannamuzhi
Turmeric (Curcuma longa)	1198	206	-	1404	Experimental farm, Peruvannamuzhi
Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum)	625	6	-	631	ICAR-IISR RS, Appangala
Cinnamon (Cinnamomum verum)	267	30	14	311	ICAR-IISR, Chelavur& Experimental farm, Peruvannamuzhi
Nutmeg (Myristica fragrance)	146	20	-	166	ICAR-IISR, Chelavur& Experimental farm, Peruvannamuzhi
Clove (Zyzygium cumini)	23	5	-	28	Experimental farm, Peruvannamuzhi
Garcinia (Garcinia sp.)	140	76	25	241	ICAR-IISR, Chelavur& Experimental farm, Peruvannamuzhi
Vanilla (Vanilla planifolia)	66	11		77	ICAR-IISR, Chelavur

National Active Germplasm Sites (NAGS)

ICAR-IISR has the National Active Germplasm Sites (NAGS) of Black Pepper, Ginger and Turmeric at ICAR-IISR, Kozhikode and ICAR-IISR, Experimental farm, Peruvannamuzhi, Kerala.

Spices germplasm registered with NBPGR, New Delhi

S. No	Crop	Reg. No	Traits
1	Black pepper	INGR 03091 INGR 370011 INGR 06026 INGR 08099 INGR 08100	Field tolerance to foot rot disease High oleoresin and bold berries High caryophyllene Transexual species, male changed to bisexual Noval spike variant with 100% proliferating spikes
2	Cardamom	INGR 06027 INGR 06028 INGR 06029 INGR 06030 INGR23102	Compound panicle type, high yield, 25.5 branches/panicle Basal branching of panicle with green bold capsules Katte mosaic virus resistance Rhizome rot resistant Compact flowering, Bold capsules (80% of capsules > 7 mm), relatively tolerant to moisture stress
3	Ginger	INGR 432866	High essential oil (3.5%)
4	Turmeric	INGR 296550 INGR 25028	Good yield (14.9 kg) with 7.5% curcumin A turmeric germplasm rich in major and minor compounds viz. zingiberene (21.07%), ß-sesquiphellandrene (14.13%), 1,8-cineole (3.42%) and a-humelene(6.30%) having unique flavour and curucminoids profile (DMC > BDMC > CUR)
5	Clove	INGR 04112	Dwarfness
6	Cassia	INGR 05029 INGR 06031 INGR 08045	High oleoresin (10.5%) High bark oil (4.9%) High cinamaldehyde (90.5%) High cinamaldehyde content in bark oil (81.5%) and leaf oil (80.5%)
7	Nutmeg	INGR 10142	High sabinene

Improved spices varieties

Thirty Seven improved varieties of spices crops have been released.

Crop	Varieties released
Black pepper	Sreekara, Subhakara, Panchami, Pournami, PLD-2, IISR Thevam, IISR Girimunda, IISR Malabar Excel, IISR Sakthi, Arka Coorg Excel
Cardamom	Appangala - 1, IISR Avinash, IISR Vijetha, Appangala-2, IISR Manushree
Turmeric	Suguna, Suvarna, Sudarsana, IISR Prabha, IISR Prathiba, IISR Kedaram, IISR Alleppey Supreme, IISR Pragati
Ginger	IISR Varada, IISR Mahima, IISR Rejatha, IISR Vajra
Cinnamon	IISR Navashree IISR Nithyashree
Nutmeg	IISR Viswashree, IISR Keralashree

Significant characteristics of the varieties of spice crops identified, recommended for release and popularized

Black pepper:

Sl. No	Variety/ Year of release	Pedigree/Parentage	Av. yield kg ha^-1 (dry)	Salient features	Recommended State/ Region
1	Sreekara 1990	Clonal selection from Karimunda	2677	High quality variety with piperine 5.1%, oleoresin 13%, essential oil 7% and dry recovery 35.0%. Adaptable to various climatic conditions in all the pepper growing tracts.	Kerala, South Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
2	Subhakara 1990	Clonal selection from Karimunda	2352	High quality variety with piperine 3.4%, oleoresin 12.4%, essential oil 6% and dry recovery 35.0%. Suitable for intercropping and high elevations and medium maturing type	Kerala, South Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
3	PLD –2 1996	Clonal selection from Kottanadan	2475	Late maturity high quality cultivar contains piperine 3.0%, oleoresin 15.45%, and essential oil 4.8%. Suitable for plains and higher elevations.	Kerala
4	Panchami 2001	Clonal selection from Aimpiriyan	2828	A high yielding variety with excellent fruit set. Spike twisted in appearance due to high fruit set. Oleoresin content is high. Piperine 4.7%, oleoresin 12.5%, essential oil 3.4% and dry recovery 34.0%.	Kerala and Southern Karnataka
5	Pournami 2001	Clonal selection from germplasm	2333	Tolerant to root knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita). A moderately high yielding vine with high oleoresin content. Shade tolerant & suitable for intercropping with arecanuts and banana. Piperine 5.3 %, oleoresin 11.18 %, essential oil 3.5 % and dry recovery 35.3%	Kerala and Southern Karnataka
6	IISR Shakthi 2004	Open pollinated progeny of Perambramundi	2352	Moderately resistant to Phytophthora foot rot. Piperine content 5.6%, oleoresin 10.6%, essential oil 1.5% and dry recovery 34.0%	Kerala and Karnataka
7	IISR Thevam 2004	Clonal selection from germplasm of Thevanmundi	2481	Field tolerant to Phytophthora foot rot. Piperine 1.6%, oleoresin 8.15%, essential oil 3.1% and dry recovery 32.5%. Suitable to high altitude areas, coffee & tea estates of South India	Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
8	IISR Girimunda 2004	Hybrid of Narayakodii X Neelamundi	2880	High yielding and better stability. Medium maturing type. Suited to high altitude areas, coffee & tea estates. Piperine 2.2%, oleoresin 9.65%, essential oil 3.4% and dry recovery 32.0%	Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
9	IISR Malabar Excel 2004	Hybrid of Cholamundi X Panniyur 1	1440	High quality variety with piperine 5.1%, oleoresin 13%, essential oil 7% and dry recovery 35.0%. Suitable for higher elevation, plains and coffee & tea estates	Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
10	Arka Coorg Excel 2012	Seedling selection	3267	Bold seeded, long spiked, high yielding pepper variety	Kodagu district or similar climatic areas
11	IISR Chandra	Hybrid	2788	Vigorous, regular bearer, Early maturing hybrid with high fruit set and long spike	Suitable for all Pepper growing regions

Cardamom:

Sl. No	Variety/ Year of release	Pedigree/Parentage & Plant type	Av. yield kg ha¹(dry)	Salient features	Recommended State/Region
1	Appangala 1/ IISR Suvasini 1993	Selection from open pollinated progeny of CL-37	745 (potential yield 1322)	High quality variety and produces 89% bold (7.2 mm and above) capsules. Suitable for high production technology. Responds well for nutritional inputs. Contains 8.7% essential oil, 42.0% 1, 8 cineole, 37.0% α-terpinyl acetate and 22.0% dry recovery. Tolerant to thrips & shoot borer	All cardamom growing tracts of Karnataka
2	IISR Avinash 1999	Selection from open pollinated progeny of Appangala 1	847 (potential yield 1483)	High yielder, tolerant to rhizome rot, suitable for planting in valleys. Has extended flowering period. Yields well at 2.5 x 2 m spacing. High essential oil (6.7%), 30.4% 1,8 cineole and 34.6% α terpinyl acetate content	Kodagu, Hassan and Chikka-magaluru in Karnataka and Wayanad in Kerala
3	IISR Vijetha (NKE 12) 2001	Clonal selection from a field resistant katteplant, a Malabar type	643 (potential yield 979)	Virus resistant selection with 77.0% bold capsules. Oil 7.9%, 1, 8 cineole 42.0%, α-terpinyl acetate 23.4%, dry recovery 22.0%. Recommended for moderate rainfall areas with moderate to high shaded and mosaic infected areas, field tolerant to thrips and borer as well as mosaic	Karnataka and Wayanad in Kerala
4	Appangala-2 2014	Hybrid of Appangala 1 × NKE 19	927.3 kg dry capsules ha^-1	First Katte resistant hybrid. Malabar type, has high oil and high α-terpinyl acetate. Contains 6.3% essential oil, 40.3% α-terpinyl acetate and 21.10% dry recovery	Kodagu, Karnataka and Wayanad, Kerala
5	IISR Manushree 2022	Selection from germplasm	550 kg dry capsules/ha under irrigated conditions and 360 kg dry capsules/ha under moisture stress conditions	Malabar type tolerant to drought. Essential oil 8.74 % (irrigated conditions) and 8.84 % (moisture stress conditions) and 50 % of the capsules are bold (having > 8 mm). Drought susceptibility index is 0.89 and drought tolerance efficiency is 70.71%. No significant changes in composition of α-terpinyl acetate and 1,8 cineole under irrigated and moisture stress conditions.	Kerala, and Karnataka
6	IISR Kaveri 2022	Selection from germplasm	482 Kg dry capsules/ha under irrigated conditions and 308 kg dry capsules/ha under moisture stress conditions	Malabar type, compact flowering variety with 80 % of the capsules are > 7 mm, relatively tolerant to moisture stress. High essential oil 9.08 % (irrigated conditions), 9.51 % (moisture stress conditions) content	Karnataka

Ginger:

Sl. No	Variety/Year of release	Pedigree/Parentage	Av. yield kg ha^-1(fresh)	Salient features	Recommended State/Region
1	IISR Varada 1995	Clonal selection	22.6	Good quality, high yielding variety with plumpy rhizomes having flattened fingers and medium sized reddish brown scales. Contains essential oil 1.70%, oleoresin 6.7%, dry recovery 19.5%, fibre content 3.29-4.5% (low fibre). Dry ginger less prone to storage insect damage.	All ginger growing regions
2	IISR Mahima 1995	Selection from germplasm	23.2	High yielder, plumpy extra bold rhizomes, resistant to M. incognita and M. javanica pathotype 1. Contains essential oil 1.72%, oleoresin 4.5%, dry recovery 23.0%, fibre content 3.26%.	All over Kerala
3	IISR Rejatha 2004	Selection from germplasm	22.4	High yielder, plumpy and bold rhizomes. Contains essential oil 2.36%, oleoresin 6.3%, dry recovery 23.0%, fibre content 4%. Relatively free from diseases	Kerala and Karnataka
4	IISR Vajra 2020	Developed through germplasm selection	11.77	Desirable flavor owing to its high zingiberene content (29.83%). Contains essential oil 2.45%, oleoresin 7.26%, dry recovery 20.7%, fibre content 5.67%	Kerala, Karnataka, Odisha and West Bengal
5	IISR Surasa	Selection (Participatory breeding)	24.33	Bold and plumpy rhizomes with slight whitish yellow rhizome core. Dry recovery (21.97%) if used for dry ginger. High mean oleoresin of 4.45% with a potential of 6.27% and high Zingiberene content (26.18%).	Kerala

Turmeric:

Sl. No	Variety/Year of release	Pedigree/Parentage	Av. yield t ha^-1(fresh)	Salient features	Recommended State/Region
1	Suguna 1991	Selection from germplasm collected from Assam	29.3	Short duration type (190 days), curcumin 4.9%, oleoresin 13.5%, essential oil 6.0% and dry recovery 20.4%, field tolerant to rhizome rot.	Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala
2	Sudar-shana 1991	Selection from germplasm collected from Singhat, Manipur	28.8	Early maturing (190 days), field tolerant to rhizome rot. Curcumin 4.9%, oleoresin 13.5%, essential oil 6.0% and dry recovery 20.4%	Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala
3	Suvarna 1991	Selection from germplasm collected from Assam	17.4	Bright orange coloured rhizome with slender fingers. Maturity 200 days, field tolerant to rhizome rot, leaf blotch, leafspot, rhizome scale and shoot borer. Curcumin 4.3%, oleoresin 13.5%, essential oil 7.0% and dry recovery 20.0%.	Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh
4	IISR Prabha 1996	Open pollinated progeny selection	28.8	High yielding and high quality variety, curcumin content 6.5%, oleoresin 15.0%, essential oil 6.5% and dry recovery 19.5%, crop duration 205 days.	Kerala and Tamil Nadu
5	IISR Prathiba 1996	Open pollinated progeny selection	37.5	High yielding and high quality line, 6.2% curcumin content with high yield, 16.2% oleoresin, 6.2% essential oil, 18.5% dry recovery, crop duration 225 days.	Kerala, Tamil Nadu and other states
6	IISR Alleppey Supreme 2004	Clonal selection from Alleppey turmeric	35.4 5.58 (dry)	Shows tolerance to leaf blotch disease. Rhizomes contain 5.55% curcumin, 16.0% oleoresin, 19.0% dry recovery, crop duration 210 days	Kerala (rainfed) Maharashtra, Karnataka and North Bengal (irrigated)
7	IISR Kedaram 2004	Clonal selection from germplasm	34.5 5.28 (dry)	Tolerant to leaf blotch disease, Rhizomes contain 5.5% curcumin, 13.6% oleoresin, maturity 210 days and 18.9% driage.	Kerala (rainfed) Maharashtra, Karnataka and North Bengal (irrigated)
8	IISR Pragati 2016	Clonal selection from germplasm collections	33.19	High yield potential, short duration nature, moderately tolerant to root-knot nematodes and curcumin content of 5.02%, oleoresin 15.29%, essential oil 6.3%	Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana
9	IISR Surya 2025	Clonal selection from germplasm collections	41.00	The Curcumin content ranges from 2-3% on par with other light-coloured turmeric varieties. Rich in major and minor compounds viz. zingiberene (21.07%), ß-sesquiphellandrene (14.13%), 1,8-cineole (3.42%) and a-humelene(6.30%) having unique flavour and curucminoids profile (DMC > BDMC > CUR)

Cinnamon:

Sl. No	Variety/Year of release	Pedigree/Parentage	Average yield kg bark ha^-1	Salient features	Recommended State/Region
1	IISR Navasree 1995	Seedling selection from Sri Lankan collection	200 kg dry quills ha^-1	Higher shoot regeneration. Bark oil 2.7%, leaf oil 2.8%, bark oleoresin 8.0%, bark recovery 40.6%, cinnamaldehyde in bark oil73%, cinnamaldehyde in leaf oil 15%, eugenol in bark oil 6.0%, eugenol in leaf oil 62%	All cinnamon growing areas of India
2	IISR Nithya-sree 1995	Clonal selection	200 kg dry quills ha^-1	Higher cinnamaldehyde and oleoresin. High quality quills with bark oil 2.7%, leaf oil 3.0%, bark oleoresin 10.0%, bark recovery 30.7%, cinnamaldehyde in bark oil 58%, cinnamaldehyde in leaf oil 14%, eugenol in bark oil 5.0%, eugenol in leaf oil 78%	All cinnamon growing areas of India

Nutmeg:

Sl. No.	Variety/Year of release	Pedigree/parentage	Average yield (kg ha^-1)	Salient features	Recommended State/Region
1	IISR Vishwa-shree 2002	Clonal selection from elite trees (Mannoor, Calicut)	1000 fruits tree^-1	Bushy, compact canopy with high quality and low incidence of fruit rot. Nut oil 7.14%, mace oil 7.13%, nut recovery 70%, mace recovery 35%, oleoresin in nut 2.48%, oleoresin in mace 13.8%, butter in nut 30.9%, myristicin in nut oil 12.48%, myristicin in mace oil 22.0 %, elemicin in nut oil 13.65%, elemicin in mace oil 20.8%	All nutmeg growing areas of Kerala
2	IISR Kerala-shree 2012	Seedling selection from Burliar. The first variety developed by Farmer’s Participatory Breeding	2000 fruits tree^-1	High yield, high quality and extra bold fruit mace and nut. Nut oil 5.9%, mace oil 7.5%, nut recovery 70%, mace recovery 35%, oleoresin in nut 9.1%, butter in nut 24.9%, myristicin in nut oil 1.6%, myristicin in mace oil 9.4 %, elemicin in nut oil 1.4%, elemicin in mace oil 0.07%, α- pinene in nut oil 7.1%, α –pinene in mace oil 4.7%, sabinene in nut oil 35.4%, sabinene in mace oil 29.4%	All nutmeg growing areas of India

Facilities

Speed Breeding Chamber

The speed breeding chamber is a custom-engineered, climate-controlled plant growth system designed to enable rapid generation advancement through precise environmental regulation. The unit contains two independent growth compartments, each providing an internal cultivation area of 60 x 120 x 100 cm (L x W x H). Each chamber is equipped with a 400-W all-in-one horticultural LED lighting system, and environmental parameters can be independently modulated via an integrated touch-screen control interface. The system allows the real-time adjustment of atmospheric CO₂ concentration (350-1200 ppm) using dedicated CO₂ injection and monitoring sensors.

A wide range of growth conditions can be imposed to optimize developmental rates, including:

Temperature: 20-50 ^oC
Relative Humidity: 40-85%
Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD): 0-1000 µmol m^-2 s^-1 at 45 cm canopy height
Light Spectrum: fully programmable
Photoperiod and light intensity: continuously adjustable

The combined control of thermal, photic, and atmospheric inputs enables accelerated vegetative growth and the induction of early reproductive development in diverse plant species, making the system highly suitable for speed breeding, phenotyping, and controlled-environment experimentation.

Tissue Culture Facility

Plant Tissue Culture Facility at ICAR- IISR is a dedicated facility for the in vitro culture and micro-propagation of key spice crops - black pepper, ginger, turmeric, vanilla, and others. The lab operates under strictly aseptic conditions to ensure successful initiation and maintenance of cultures along with in vitro conservation of major spices.

DNA Fingerprinting Facility

The DNA fingerprinting and barcoding facility was established to provide fingerprinting services, facilitating the release of varietals from AICRPS centres/ ICAR institutes and state agricultural universities. The facility has identified DNA marker-based technology for establishing the uniqueness of proposed new varieties of spice crops. So far, variety-specific DNA profiles of more than 50 spice varieties of tropical spices, as well as seed spices, were developed using ISSR, SSR, and RAPD markers from this facility.

Bioinformatics & Integrative Genomics Facility

The Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics (BIG) Facility at ICAR-Indian Institute of Spices Research serves as a central hub supporting multidisciplinary research in spices. The facility provides computational expertise across genomics, transcriptomics, metagenomics, metabolomics, and proteomics, enabling researchers to explore gene expression, regulation, and molecular mechanisms underlying plant growth, stress responses, and disease. Our team also specializes in computational chemistry and structural bioinformatics, including molecular docking, virtual screening, and molecular dynamics simulations to investigate spice phytochemicals and their functional roles. We develop scalable, modular, and reusable pipelines for large biological datasets, ensuring robust, reproducible, and high-quality analyses for diverse research programs.