The word clove, first used in English in the
15th century, derives via
Middle Englishclow of gilofer,[7] Anglo-French clowes de gilofre and Old French clou de girofle, from the Latin word clavus "nail".[8][9] The related English word gillyflower, originally meaning "clove", derives[10] via said Old French girofle and Latin caryophyllon, from the Greek karyophyllon "clove", literally "nut leaf".[11][7]
Description
The clove tree is an
evergreen that grows up to 8–12 metres (26–39 ft) tall, with large leaves and
crimson flowers grouped in terminal clusters. The flower buds initially have a pale hue, gradually turn green, then transition to a bright red when ready for harvest. Cloves are harvested at 1.5–2 centimetres (5⁄8–3⁄4 in) long, and consist of a long
calyx that terminates in four spreading
sepals, and four unopened petals that form a small central ball.
Clove stalks are slender
stems of the
inflorescence axis that show opposite
decussate branching. Externally, they are brownish, rough, and irregularly wrinkled longitudinally with short fracture and dry, woody texture. Mother cloves (anthophylli) are the ripe fruits of cloves that are ovoid, brown berries,
unilocular and one-seeded.
Blown cloves are expanded flowers from which both
corollae and
stamens have been detached. Exhausted cloves have most or all the oil removed by distillation. They yield no oil and are darker in color.[citation needed]
Uses
Cloves are used in the cuisine of
Asian,
African,
Mediterranean, and the
Near and
Middle East countries, lending flavor to meats (such as
baked ham),
curries, and
marinades, as well as fruit (such as apples, pears, and
rhubarb). Cloves may be used to give aromatic and flavor qualities to hot beverages, often combined with other ingredients such as lemon and sugar. They are a common element in spice blends (as part of the
Malayrempah empat beradik –"four sibling spices"– besides cinnamon, cardamom and star anise for example[12]), including
pumpkin pie spice and
speculaas spices.
It is often added to
betel quids to enhance aroma while chewing.[15] The spice is used in a type of cigarette called kretek in Indonesia.[1] Clove cigarettes were smoked throughout Europe, Asia, and the United States. Clove cigarettes are currently classified in the United States as
cigars,[16] the result of a
ban on flavored cigarettes in September 2009.[17]
Clove
essential oil may be used to inhibit
mold growth on various types of foods.[18] In addition to these non-culinary uses of clove, it can be used to protect wood in a system for
cultural heritage conservation, and showed the efficacy of clove essential oil to be higher than a
boron-based wood preservative.[19] Cloves can be used to make a fragrant
pomander when combined with an orange. When given as a gift in Victorian England, such a pomander indicated warmth of feeling.
Studies to determine its effectiveness for fever reduction, as a
mosquito repellent, and to prevent
premature ejaculation have been inconclusive.[5][21] It remains unproven whether
blood sugar levels are reduced by cloves or clove oil.[21] The essential oil may be used in
aromatherapy.[5]
Archaeologist
Giorgio Buccellati found cloves in
Terqa, Syria, in a burned-down house which was dated to 1720 BC. This was the first evidence of cloves being used in the west before Roman times. The discovery was first reported in 1978.[29][30][31] They reached
Rome by the first century AD.[32][33][34]
Another archeological find of a clove is represented by two examples found at a trading port in
Sri Lanka, dated to around 900–1100 AD.[35] From Chinese records during the
Song Dynasty (960 to 1279 AD), cloves were primarily exported from the Moluccas by ships originating from the Austronesian polities of
Java,
Srivijaya,
Champa, and
Butuan.[36]
Cloves were also present in records in
China,
Sri Lanka,
Southern India,
Persia, and
Oman by around the third century to second century BC.[32][33][34] These mentions of "cloves" reported in China, South Asia, and the Middle East come from before the establishment of Southeast Asian maritime trade. But all of these are misidentifications that referred to other plants (like
cassia buds,
cinnamon, or
nutmeg); or are imports from
Maritime Southeast Asia mistakenly identified as being natively produced in these regions.[36]
Archaeologists recovered the earliest known example of cloves in northwest Europe from the wreck of the Danish-Norwegian flagship,
Gribshunden. The ship sank in June 1495 while King Hans was sailing to political summit in Sweden. Exotic luxuries including cloves, ginger, and saffron would have impressed the noblemen and high church officials at the summit.[37]
During the colonial era, cloves were traded like oil, with an enforced limit on exportation.[27] As the
Dutch East India Company consolidated its control of the
spice trade in the 17th century, they sought to gain a
monopoly in cloves as they had in nutmeg. However, "unlike nutmeg and
mace, which were limited to the minute
Bandas, clove trees grew all over the Moluccas, and the trade in cloves was beyond the limited policing powers of the corporation".[38] Tourists are told that seedlings from this very tree were stolen by a Frenchman named
Pierre Poivre in 1770, transferred to the
Isle de France (
Mauritius), and then later to
Zanzibar, which was once the world's largest producer of cloves.[27]
Current leaders in clove production are
Indonesia,
Madagascar,
Tanzania,
Sri Lanka, and
Comoros.[39] Indonesia is the largest clove producer, but only export a small portion of the cloves they produce, which amounts to around 10–15% of the country's clove production. They oftentimes have to import cloves from Madagascar to meet their needs.[39]
Phytochemicals
Eugenol comprises 72–90% of the essential oil extracted from cloves, and is the compound most responsible for clove aroma.[14][40] Complete
extraction occurs at 80 minutes in pressurized water at 125 °C (257 °F).[41] Ultrasound-assisted and microwave-assisted extraction methods provide more rapid extraction rates with lower energy costs.[42]
^Hariati Azizan (Aug 2, 2015). "A spicy blend of tradition". Star2. The Star. p. 9.
^Dorenburg, Andrew and Page, Karen. The New American Chef: Cooking with the Best Flavors and Techniques from Around the World, John Wiley and Sons Inc., 2003
^Buccellati, G., M. Kelly-Buccellati, The Terqa Archaeological Project: First Preliminary Report., Les Annales Archeologiques Arabes Syriennes 27–28, 1977–1978, 71–96.
^Buccellati, G., M. Kelly-Buccellati, Terqa: The First Eight Seasons, Les Annales Archeologiques Arabes Syriennes 33(2), 1983, 47–67.
^
abMahdi, Waruno (2003). "Linguistic and philological data towards a chronology of Austronesian activity in India and Sri Lanka". In Blench, Roger; Spriggs, Matthew (eds.). Archaeology and Language IV: Language Change and Cultural Transformation. Routledge. pp. 160–240.
ISBN978-1-134-81624-8.
^
abArdika, I Wayan (2021). "Bali in the Global Contacts and the Rise of Complex Society". In Prasetyo, Bagyo; Nastiti, Titi Surti; Simanjuntak, Truman (eds.). Austronesian Diaspora: A New Perspective. UGM Press. p. 196.
ISBN978-602-386-202-3.
^
ab"Cloves". Silk Routes. The University of Iowa. Retrieved 24 January 2022.
^
abPtak, Roderich (January 1993). "China and the Trade in Cloves, Circa 960–1435". Journal of the American Oriental Society. 113 (1): 1–13.
doi:
10.2307/604192.
JSTOR604192.
^Li-Ming Bao, Eerdunbayaer; Nozaki, Akiko; Takahashi, Eizo; Okamoto, Keinosuke; Ito, Hideyuki; Hatano, Tsutomu (2012). "Hydrolysable tannins isolated from Syzygium aromaticum: Structure of a new c-glucosidic ellagitannin and spectral features of tannins with a tergalloyl group". Heterocycles. 85 (2): 365–381.
doi:10.3987/COM-11-12392 (inactive 2024-02-17).{{
cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of February 2024 (
link)