Garlic export from India

Overview

Garlic is the compound bulb of Allium sativum, and in the export trade it splits into two quite different businesses. One is fresh bulb, a bulk vegetable commodity moved in mesh and carton by the tonne. The other, and the one that behaves like a spice ingredient, is dehydrated garlic: cloves peeled, sliced and dried, then sold as kibbled/minced pieces, flakes, granules and powder to the food-manufacturing and seasoning trade. The flavour and pungency of both come from alliin, which converts on crushing to allicin and the sulphur compounds responsible for the sharp aroma, so pungency and allicin potential are what quality-conscious buyers actually chase.

For dehydrated garlic the technical specifications a manufacturer cares about are moisture, mesh/particle size, colour (a clean cream-white, not scorched or grey), added-anti-caking status, and the microbiological profile. Because it is a low-moisture ready-to-eat ingredient, dehydrated garlic is a recognised Salmonella and total-plate-count risk, so microbial testing and a validated reduction step are standard buyer requirements. India competes in this trade on cost and on the naturally high pungency of its material, though China is the dominant world dehydrated-garlic origin.

India also grows small-clove, high-pungency hill garlics that are recognised on the GI register, notably Kodaikanal Malai Poondu and the Kanthalloor-Vattavada garlic of the Western Ghats, prized for their strong flavour and high allicin (giRegistry). Because garlic largely reports as a vegetable rather than under the Chapter 9 spice headings, its trade figures are not comparable to the seed spices, and buyers should treat garlic sourcing as a produce-and-dehydrate supply chain with spice-grade quality control.

Growing regions

Garlic is grown widely across India as a rabi (winter) crop, with Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh among the large plains-producing states supplying the fresh and dehydration trade, and harvest concentrated in late winter to spring. Distinct small-clove, high-pungency garlics come from the southern hills, including the GI-registered Kodaikanal and Kanthalloor-Vattavada types. Fresh bulb stores for months under proper curing and ventilation, which spreads availability beyond the harvest window.

Sourcing & export considerations

• Available as fresh bulb (produce trade) and as dehydrated garlic in kibbled/minced, flakes, granule and powder forms for the ingredient trade
• For dehydrated garlic, specify moisture, mesh/particle size, colour, roasted vs unroasted, and anti-caking/flow-agent status on the contract
• Dehydrated garlic is a ready-to-eat low-moisture ingredient with a real Salmonella and total-plate-count risk, so require microbial testing (Salmonella absent in 25 g) and a validated reduction step, arranged with vetted third-party facilities
• For fresh bulb, specify bulb size/count, curing, and phytosanitary certification, and expect produce-style handling and shelf life rather than dry-spice storage
• Dehydrated forms store well cool, dry and in barrier packaging; ground/granule forms are hygroscopic and cake if they take up moisture
• MOQ follows trade practice: sample lots around 50-100 kg for dehydrated grades, private-label from about 100 kg per variant, larger runs by tonnage; fresh bulb moves in far larger produce lots (cbi)
• Garlic largely reports as a vegetable under HS 0703 (fresh) and 0712 (dried), not under Chapter 9, so its trade figures are not comparable to the seed spices and should not be blended with them
• For GI hill garlics, verify the GI status and traceability on the register before making a GI claim (giRegistry)
• Nutraceutical buyers should specify the target assay (allicin potential or organosulphur content) and test method, since these define the extraction grade