General Information
The clove tree is a medium sized symmetrically shaped tree with smooth grey bark. Cloves come in 3 different forms, whole, ground and oil. All three forms have the same properties with differing degrees of potency. Oil has the highest potency while whole Cloves possess medium potency because the oils are still in them and they can be ground in a mortar and pestle for use. Ground Cloves are the least potent because most of the oil has already been released.
Uses
Clove is largely used as dried whole buds or ground for curry mixtures, while clove oil is used for flavoring foods and in the pharmaceutical and perfumery industry. This spice is a must for flavoring both sweet and savory foods in pickling and the production of sauces and ketchups. In medicine it is valued as a carminative, aromatic and stimulant. Clove oil is used in perfumes, in dentistry and a clearing agent in microscopy. Natural herbal remedies using Cloves includes: Relieving toothaches, earaches, nausea, hypertension and pain from burns and wounds. Also helps respiratory problems, is a great air freshener and a mosquito repellent.
Medicinal and Nutritional Properties
Eugenol comprises 72-90% of the essential oil extracted from Cloves and the compound is most responsible for the aroma of Cloves. Other important essential oil constituents of clove oil include acetyl eugenol, beta-caryophyllene and vanillin, crategolic acid, gallotannic acid, methyl salicylate, eugenin, kaempferol, rhammentin, eugenitin, oleanolic acid, sigmasterol and campesterol.
Clove is used extensively in Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Traditional Chinese medicine and also western herbalism and also in dentistry, where the essential oil is traditionally used as an anodyne (painkiller) for dental emergencies It is believed that clove can be used to treat indigestion, diarrhea, hernias, ringworm and also athlete’s foot and other fungal infections. Clove has a carminative effect and is used in various skin disorders like acne, pimples etc. and also used in skin burns, skin irritation and sensitiveness of skin.
History
The History of Cloves goes back to the Han dynasty (207B.C to 220 A.D.) when it was used to hide bad breath, in the presence of the Chinese Emperor. It is also believed to be the first spices to be traded. Clove was a prized item of the Romans and the Chinese as way back as 226 BC and it was not until the 4th century AD that Cloves arrived in Europe. Along with nutmeg, Cloves were one of the most precious spices of the 16th and 17th century, and control of them spurred expeditions as well as wars. Initially Cloves were traded by Arabs until the 15th century when the Portuguese took over the trade. It was the French who introduced clove to Mauritius in the year 1770 and subsequently the cultivations were introduced to Guiana, Zanzibar, West Indies and most of the Brazil. Though it is not clearly known when clove was introduced to Ceylon for cultivation, it is widely believed that it could have been during the times of Arab trading when Ceylon was a major trading hub for spices.
