Cloves

An Introduction

Clove, (syzygium aromaticum, syn. eugenia aromaticum or eugenia caryophyllata), is one of the oldest spices in the world. This dried, unopened flower bud of a small evergreen tree is widely used  as an ingredient of a variety of beverages, food specialties, medicines, cosmetics, perfumery and toiletries.The word ‘clove’ originates from the Latin word – clavus, which means ‘nail’, as its buds resemble small irregular nails in shape. Clove is a native to the North Moluccas, the Spice Islands of Indonesia and is widely cultivated in Brazil, the West Indies, Mauritius, Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, Zanzibar and Pemba. Indonesia is the largest producer of cloves in the world followed by Madagascar and Tanzania.

History of Coves in a Nutshell

• In ancient times, the cultivation of cloves were restricted to the regions of the Maluku Islands (historically called the Spice Islands), including Bacan, Makian, Moti, Ternate, and Tidore
• Before Christ, they were introduced in West to the Middle East and Europe
• In Syria, archaeologists found cloves within a ceramic vessel belonging to 1721 BC
• The Chinese wrote of cloves as early as 400 BC
• A record from 200 BC contained description about courtiers keeping cloves in their mouths to avoid offending the emperor while addressing him
• Cloves, along with nutmeg and pepper, were highly prized in Roman times
• They were traded by Arabs during the Middle Ages in the profitable Indian Ocean trade
• In the late fifteenth century, the Portuguese brought large quantities of cloves to Europe, mainly from the Maluku Islands
• In the seventeenth century, clove trade was dominated by the Dutch
• In 1770, the French succeeded in introducing the clove tree into Mauritius, though with a great difficulty
• Later, clove cultivation was introduced into Guiana, Brazil, most of the West Indies, and Zanzibar, where the majority of cloves are grown today
• In Britain, during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, cloves were worth at least their weight in gold, due to the high price of importing them.