Indian Cumin (Jeera) Explained: Unjha, Export Grades, Colour and Oil

How Indian cumin is traded at Unjha, what Europe and Singapore quality grades mean, what drives colour and oil, and when new-crop jeera arrives.

This guide explains how Indian cumin is traded, what the common export grades mean, what drives colour and oil content, and how the crop calendar affects when to buy.

India grows most of the world's cumin, and almost all of it comes from two states: Gujarat and Rajasthan. Nearly every export lot passes through, or is priced off, one market town in north Gujarat.

Unjha: where Indian cumin is priced

Unjha, in Mehsana district of Gujarat, is home to the largest cumin market in India. Its APMC (Agricultural Produce Market Committee) yard receives seed from farmers across Gujarat and Rajasthan, and the prices set there are the reference for the whole trade. Around the market are hundreds of cleaning, sorting and packing units that turn farm-run seed into export grades.

For a buyer, this means:

Price quotes for Indian cumin follow Unjha closely, day by day.
Most processors cleaning to export standard are in or near Unjha.
Seed from different districts is mixed and graded in Unjha, so "Gujarat" or "Rajasthan" origin is rarely specified unless you ask.

The crop calendar

Cumin is a rabi (winter) crop. It needs a cool, dry season.

Sowing: October to November (some into December)
Harvest: February to March
New-crop arrivals at Unjha: from about late February, peaking in March and April

Buyers often time larger purchases after new-crop arrivals build up, when quality choice is widest. The trade-off is that the market at that point reflects the size of the new crop, which may push prices up or down.

What moves the price

Cumin prices in India can swing sharply. In 2023, prices at Unjha reached record levels after lower arrivals left supply well short of demand. The usual drivers are:

Weather during the season. Cumin is sensitive to unseasonal rain, humidity, fog and frost. Rain close to harvest can cause disease and darken the seed.
Area sown. Farmers choose between cumin, mustard, wheat and other rabi crops based on recent prices.
Competing origins. Syria, Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan grow cumin. Their crop size and export availability affect demand for Indian seed.
Carry-over stock. Stocks held by traders and processors from the previous season.
Currency and freight. These affect landed cost abroad.

We don't forecast prices. If you need cover for a long period, discuss timing and contract length with your supplier.

Common export grades

Indian cumin is sold under trade names that describe purity and destination market. They are trade conventions. They are not official standards, and their meaning varies from one seller to another. Always ask for the actual numbers behind the name.

Trade name	What it usually means
Machine clean / Gulf quality	Basic cleaning (sieving, aspiration, destoning). Purity often around 98%.
Singapore quality	Cleaned, often with higher purity. Offers range from 98% to 99.5%.
Europe quality	Machine cleaned and optically sorted, purity usually 99% or 99.5% and higher, with tighter limits on foreign matter. Sometimes linked to residue control.
Sortex / 99.5%+	Optically sorted, high purity, for grinding and retail packs.

"Purity 99" or "purity 98.5" means at least that percentage by weight is cumin seed. The rest is admixture: other seeds, stalks, dust, stones, broken seed.

Specify beyond purity

A useful export spec for whole cumin includes:

Purity: for example 99% or 99.5% minimum
Admixture and foreign matter: maximum %, with a definition
Moisture: commonly 8–10% max. The European Spice Association quality minima allow up to 13%, and many buyers ask for less.
Volatile oil: commonly 1.5 ml/100 g minimum. Higher oil gives stronger aroma.
Total ash and acid-insoluble ash: indicators of soil and sand
Colour: greenish-brown, uniform
Seed size: bold, medium or small
Pesticide residues: against your market's limits
Salmonella: absent in 25 g (for ready-to-eat use)
Pyrrolizidine alkaloids: for the EU, where a 400 µg/kg limit for cumin seed has applied since July 2022

What affects colour

Buyers in many markets prefer a light greenish-brown, bright seed. Dark or blackish seed usually trades at a discount.

Rain or humidity at harvest is the main cause of darkened seed. It can also bring fungal disease.
Drying. Seed dried slowly or left in damp heaps can discolour.
Age. Old-crop seed gradually loses brightness.
Variety and region. Varieties differ in seed size and appearance. Widely grown ones include GC-4 in Gujarat and RZ-19 in Rajasthan.
Cleaning. Optical sorting can remove the darkest seeds from a lot, which lifts the overall colour.

What affects oil content

Volatile oil carries cumin's aroma. Buyers grinding for blends or extracting oil care about it most.

Variety and growing conditions. Cool, dry weather through the season generally gives good oil.
Maturity at harvest. Seed harvested before full maturity tends to have lower oil.
Storage. Oil volatilises over time, faster in heat. Store whole seed cool and dry, and grind close to use.
Grinding. Ground cumin loses oil much faster than whole seed. If you buy powder, specify a recent grind date.

Residue risk

Pesticide residues are the most common reason for cumin rejections in the EU. Ask how the supplier controls them: from which areas the seed comes, whether the lot is tested before shipping, and against which limits. Some exporters offer lots from integrated pest management (IPM) programmes for Europe. Test reports should be from an accredited lab and should name the lot.

Before you order

Grade name and the numbers behind it: purity, admixture, moisture, oil
Crop year (new or old crop)
Cleaning: machine clean or sortexed
Residue limits and testing arrangement
Salmonella and PA testing if relevant
Pack: 25 kg or 50 kg PP or jute bags, or retail packs
Incoterm (FOB Nhava Sheva or CFR your port) and payment terms
Sample approval and counter-sample

If you are buying cumin, send us the grade, quantity, pack size and destination port and we'll come back with a written quote.