Dr. R. Chitra is the Assistant Professor (Hort.) at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in Periyakulam, Tamilnadu. Her interests are spices and plantation crops. She says black pepper and cinnamon are unique spices having antibacterial and antiviral activity. Post harvest technology is very important for these spices especially drying method because they are easily affected by aspergellus fungi. Quality is also improved through PHT.