Cumin

Cumin (Cuminum cyminum) is a flowering plant from the parsley family, Apiaceae, and originally comes from the Irano-Turanian Region. Its dried seeds—each one inside a fruit—are used whole or ground in the cooking of many cultures. While cumin has a place in traditional medicine, there is no strong evidence that it is safe or effective as a treatment.

The English word "cumin" traces back through Middle English, Old English, Old French, and Latin to Ancient Greek, then to Hebrew and Arabic, and ultimately to Akkadian and Sumerian. Traditionally, it was pronounced "KUM-in" (like "coming" without the "ng"), but in the United States, this pronunciation has largely been replaced since the late 20th century by "KYOO-min" or "KOO-min."

The cumin plant grows 30–50 cm tall and is harvested by hand. It is an annual herb with a slender, smooth, branched stem 20–30 cm tall and 3–5 cm wide. Each branch has two or three sub-branches, all reaching the same height, giving the plant a uniform canopy. The stem is grey or dark green. Leaves are 5–10 cm long, feather-like or twice-feather-like, with thread-like leaflets. Small white or pink flowers grow in umbels, each umbel containing five to seven smaller umbellets. The fruit is a dry achene, 4–5 mm long, containing two mericarps, each with a single seed. Cumin seeds have eight ridges with oil canals, are oblong and yellow-brown, and resemble caraway seeds.

Cumin is sometimes confused with caraway, another Apiaceae spice. Many European and Asian languages do not clearly distinguish the two; in Indonesia, both are called *jinten*. Some Slavic and Uralic languages call cumin "Roman caraway" or "spice caraway." The distantly related *Elwendia persica* and *Bunium bulbocastanum*, as well as the unrelated *Nigella sativa*, are all sometimes called black cumin.

Cumin has been used as a spice for thousands of years, likely originating in Central Asia, Southwestern Asia, or the Eastern Mediterranean. Wild cumin seeds were found at the submerged settlement of Atlit-Yam, dating to the early 6th millennium BC. Seeds from Syria date to the second millennium BC, and they appear at several New Kingdom Egyptian sites. In ancient Egypt, cumin was both a spice and a preservative in mummification. It was important to the Minoans on Crete, appearing as ideograms on Linear A tablets from palace stores. Ancient Greeks kept cumin on the dining table in its own container, a practice that continues in Morocco. It was also heavily used in ancient Roman cuisine. In India, it has been a traditional ingredient for millennia and forms the base of many spice blends. Spanish and Portuguese colonists brought cumin to the Americas. Black and green cumin are used in Persian cuisine. Today, cumin is mostly grown in the Indian subcontinent, Northern Africa, Mexico, Chile, and China. Because it is often included in bird food and exported widely, it can become an introduced species in many areas.

India is the world’s largest cumin producer, accounting for about 70% of global production. Other major producers are Syria (13%), Turkey (5%), the UAE (3%), and Iran. In the 2020–2021 fiscal year, India produced 856,000 tons of cumin seed. Cumin is a drought-tolerant tropical or subtropical crop, vulnerable to frost, and needs 120 frost-free days. Its optimum growth temperature is 25–30 °C. A Mediterranean climate is most suitable, requiring a long, hot summer of three to four months. Low temperatures turn leaves from green to purple; high temperatures can shorten the growth period and cause early ripening. In India, cumin is sown from October to early December and harvested from February. In Syria and Iran, sowing runs from mid-November to mid-December (sometimes into January) and harvesting in June or July.

The three main types of cumin seeds on the market vary in seed color, oil content, and flavor: Iranian, Indian/South Asian, and Middle Eastern. Cumin is grown from seeds, which need 2–5 °C to emerge, with an optimum of 20–30 °C. Frost damage is a risk, especially during flowering and early seed formation. Methods to reduce frost damage include spraying with sulfuric acid (0.1%), irrigating before frost, setting up windbreaks, or creating morning smoke cover. Seedlings are small and have low vigor; soaking seeds for eight hours before sowing improves germination. A sowing density of 12–15 kilograms per hectare is recommended for an optimal plant population. Fertile, sandy, loamy soils with good aeration are ideal.