Spice-dyed healing cloth to hit market

After ayurveda clothes, spice-dyed fabrics are set to hit the booming garment market.

The cloth spiced with aroma as well as healing properties has been developed by Kerala-based Spices Board of India. The unique eco-friendly product has become a hot topic of discussion at the World Spice Congress going on at Cochin now.

The garments are now available in turmeric, cardamom and cinnamon varieties. Other varieties will be added after the market response to the present varieties is known, said a senior Spices Board official.

The spice clothes are a blend of cloth, spices and medicinal herbs. The official said that the medicinal properties in the cloth will cure different ailments. The healing properties are absorbed by the skin.

The garment costs at least 20-25 per cent more than ordinary cloth. The Spices Board is planning to focus on domestic market initially. The flavoured clothes will be initially available at the board’s signature shop at a leading shopping mall in the port city. Spices Board chairman A Jayathilak said that the strategy for taking the product to the international market will be discussed at the Spice Congress. Many foreign countries and airport outlets have evinced keen interest in the product.

The product is part of the Spices Board’s initiatives to explore new avenues for value-added products. More than 90 per cent of the spice is now used for culinary purposes. Jayathilak said that the board was exploring non-traditional uses in a big way to sustain spices cultivation. The spice chocolate launched by the board last year turned out to be a big hit. The spices board chief said the chocolates were well appreciated in the World Economic Forum in Davos.

India is currently exporting majority of the spices it produces mostly in raw form. The country is currently producing 2.7 million tones of spices annually. India has more than 50 varieties of spice.

Spice farmers and handloom workers are upbeat over the new product. Satish Kumar K of the Handloom Weavers’ Development Society said both farmers and the handloom workers would benefit from these products.

The Society, which is already manufacturing the ayurveda clothes, will be producing the spice clothes. The herbal clothes are now available in different forms like kurtas, salwar suits, bedcovers, pillow covers and night gowns.

Roots, flowers, leaves, seeds and barks of around 200 herbs are used to make the dyes for the ayurveda garments. The cloth material is mostly cotton and silk though there are a few sample pieces in wool and jute too.

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