Based on the global distribution of plants, the territories of our country encompass three phytogeographic regions: Europe-Siberia, the Mediterranean, and Iran-Turan. This situation has endowed our country with a rich flora, allowing for the growth of 12,000 plant species here, approximately one-third of which are endemic. While our country's share of the world's land area is about 0.53%, it hosts 3.6% of the world's plant species, indicating the significant plant diversity of our country. Among the spices used most frequently, Red Pepper, Black Seed (Nigella), Thyme, Cumin, Mint, Sumac, Cinnamon, and Turmeric stand out.

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Approximately 25% of the species found in our country's spice flora grow in the Black Sea Region. However, the production of spices for export, in terms of value and quantity, predominantly occurs in the Aegean Region. In foreign markets, the most important characteristic sought in spice plants originating from nature is the production of a specific quality and standard. Especially for thyme, one of the most exported spice plants in terms of value, it has been observed that despite years of cultivation and quality improvement efforts, 20% of the production is still obtained by collecting from natural habitats. In the case of spice plants that are not economically significant but are considered to be important for the pharmaceutical and food industries in the future, this rate is seen to be around 80%.

 

You can find information about our spice exporter companies here.