Indian Spice : Kalpaasi is a Lichen, acutally !

Indian Spice: Kalpaasi is a Lichen, actually !

In India, spices (for flavor) and condiments (for flavor and taste) are used a lot in native cuisine. Biriyani is no exception. Recently, read in a magazine about the source of one of the spices, Kalpaasi. This is collected from forests by native tribals. Famous Western Ghats (Western chain of mountains) in South India has this rich resource.This ash coloured, flattened, dry matter is collected from tall trees and sometimes from rock surfaces of interior forests. Sometimes, during rainy periods, people slip during the process and even lose their lives. 

Looking at the picture in the magazine (Kungumam : Tamil Weekly: 28.OCT.2013 / www.kungumam.co.in), something struck me. This is actually a lichen (pronounced "li'ken"), unlike other Spices and Condiment, which are from higher plant sources.  

 Parmelia sulcata

 Plastimatia glauca

Plastimatia herrei

[Pictures are by Derrick Ditchburn: www.dereila.ca)

Lichen is an unique association of two organisms, a fungus and an alga(e) or moss, who co-exist in a mutually beneficial live-in relationship.One helps in rooting into the host (tree or the holding surface) and the helps in making food by photosynthesis. A clean example of give-and-share policy. Most important thing is, lichens are full of nutrients and are rich in antibiotics.Yellow lichens have poisonous compounds, but green and grey ones are edible in many countries.

So, it is in fact interesting to connect Science with ethnic food (A common spice that has nutrient values and antibiotic properties, after the condiment in Indian Cuisine, Turmeric with antiseptic properties, went waging intellectual property wars beyond continents). Should some one go for patenting or GIS marking Indian Kalpaasi ? It is about time..