Healing Properties of Cloves

Healing Properties of Cloves 
Nelson Brunton

Cloves an aromatic dried flower bud of  the family Myrtaceae. Cloves  native to the Maluku islands in Indonesia, India, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and tropical countries. They have a numbing effect in the mouth when tasted.

The clove is an evergreen tree that grows to a height of 8–12 m, have large leaves and sanguine flowers in numerous groups of terminal clusters. The flower buds, at first, is a pale colour and gradually become green, then develop into a bright red, when they are ready for harvesting. At this stage they are about 1.5–2 cm long, and consist of a long calyx, terminating in four spreading sepals, and four unopened petals which form a small ball in the centre and looks like a round headed nail.

The scientific name of the clove is Syzygium aromaticum, of  the genus Syzygium, tribe Syzygieae, and subfamily Myrtoideae of the family Myrtaceae. It is classified in the order of Myrtales, which belong to superorder Rosids, under Eudicots of Dicotyledonae. Clove is an Angiospermic plant and belongs to division of Magnoliophyta in the kingdom Plantae

Cloves  used in cooking either whole or ground and used sparingly because they have an extremely strong flavour.

Traditionally used in Indian cuisine (both North Indian and South Indian). In North Indian cuisine, along with other spices to make garam masala, and not used much in summer, because it is a hot flavour. In the Maharashtra region of India, it is used sparingly for sweet or spicy dishes, and sparingly in everyday cuisine. In Ayurvedic medicine it is reputed to increasing heat in the system, hence the difference of usage by region and season. In south Indian cuisine, it is used extensively in biryani along with other "cloves dish" (similar to pilaf, but with the addition of other spices), and it is normally added whole to enhance the presentation and flavor of the rice.

Dried cloves are also a key ingredient in Indian masala chai or spiced tea, a special variation of tea popular in some regions. Generally, know as "chai" or "chai tea".

In Mexican cuisine, cloves are best known as clavos de olor, and often used together with cumin and cinnamon.

In Vietnamese cuisine, cloves are often used to season the broth of Phở.

In American cooking, it is often used in sweet bread such as pumpkin or zucchini bread along with other sweet spices like nutmeg and cinnamon.

Due to the Indonesian influence, the use of Cloves is widespread in the Netherlands. Cloves are used in cheeses, often in combination with cumin. Cloves are an essential ingredient for making Dutch speculates. Furthermore, cloves are used in traditional Dutch stews like hachee.

In Europe, cloves are also a common ingredient in Christmas seasonal dishes such as Mulled wine.

Non-culinary uses

The spice is used in a type of cigarette called kretek in Indonesia. Kreteks have been smoked throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. In 2009, clove cigarettes (as well as fruit and candy flavoured cigarettes) were outlawed in the US. However, they are still sold in similar form, re-labeled as "filtered clove cigars".

Cloves are also an important incense material in Chinese and Japanese culture. And clove essence is commonly used in the production of many perfumes.

During Christmas, it is a tradition in some European countries to make pomanders from cloves and oranges to hang around the house. This spreads a nice scent throughout the house and serves as holiday decorations.

Cloves are often used as incense in the Jewish practice called Havdala.

Clove also works as an ant repellent.

Traditional medicinal uses

Cloves are used in Indian Ayurvedic medicine, Chinese medicine, and western herbalism and dentistry where the essential oil is used as an anodyne (painkiller) for dental emergencies. Cloves are used as a carminative, to increase hydrochloric acid in the stomach and to improve peristalsis. Cloves are also said to be a natural anthelmintic. The essential oil is used in aromatherapy when stimulation and warming are needed, especially for digestive problems. Topical application over the stomach or abdomen is said to warm the digestive tract. Clove oil, applied to a cavity in a decayed tooth, also relieves a toothache. It also helps to decrease infection in the teeth due to its antiseptic properties.

In Chinese medicine cloves or ding xiang are considered acrid, warm and aromatic, entering the kidney, spleen and stomach meridians, and are notable in their ability to warm the middle, direct stomach qi downward, to treat hiccough and to fortify the kidney yang. Because the herb is so warming it is contraindicated in any persons with fire symptoms and according to classical sources should not be used for anything except cold from yang deficiency. As such it is used in formulas for impotence or clear vaginal discharge from yang deficiency, for morning sickness together with ginseng and patchouli, or for vomiting and diarrhoea due to spleen and stomach coldness. This would translate to hypochlorhydria. Clove oil is used in various skin disorders like acne, pimples etc. It is also used in severe burns, skin irritations and to reduce the sensitivity of the skin.

Cloves may be used internally as a tea and topically as an oil for hypotonic muscles, including for multiple sclerosis.[citation needed] This is also found in Tibetan medicine. Some recommend avoiding more than occasional use of cloves internally in the presence of pitta inflammation such as is found in acute flares of autoimmune diseases.

In West Africa, the Yorubas use cloves infused in water as a treatment for stomach upsets, vomiting and diarrhea. The infusion is called Ogun Jedi-jedi.

[edit]Medicinal uses and Pharmaceutical preparations

Western studies have supported the use of cloves and clove oil for dental pain. However, studies to determine its effectiveness for fever reduction, as a mosquito repellent and to prevent premature ejaculation have been inconclusive. Clove may reduce blood sugar levels.

Tellimagrandin II is an ellagitannin found in S. aromaticum with anti-herpesvirus properties.

The buds have anti-oxidant properties.

Clove oil can be used to anaesthetize fish, and prolonged exposure to higher doses (the recommended dose is 400mg/l) is considered a humane means of euthanasia.

In addition, Clove oil is used in the preparation of some toothpaste, laxative pills and Clovacaine solution which is a local anaesthetic and used in oral ulceration and anti-inflammations. Eugenol (or clove oil generally) is mixed with Zinc oxide to be a temporary filling.

Adulteration

Clove Stalks: They are slender stems of the inflorescence axis which show opposite decussate branching. Externally, they are brownish, rough and irregularly wrinkled longitudinally with short fracture and dry, woody texture.

Mother Cloves (Anthophylli): There are the ripe fruits of cloves which are ovoid, brown berries, unilocular and one-seeded. This can be detected by the presence of much starch in the seeds.

Brown Cloves: Expanded flowers from which both corolla and stamens have been detached.

Exhausted Cloves: Cloves from which almost or all of the oil has been removed by distillation. They yield no oil and are darker in colour.

History

Clove: A highly useful aromatic herb

Clove is an aromatic flower bud that is used for its distinctive flavour. It has a number of medicinal properties.

Cloves come under the group of spices and condiments. They are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family myrtacea. It is a native to Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisines where cloves are used; they are much liked by Chinese, play an important role in Sri Lankan cooking, and are extensively used in the Mogul cuisine, also in the Middle East, many Arab countries and northern Africa, along with Indian cuisines.

In all these countries, they are preferred for meat dishes; frequently rice is automatized with a few cloves. In Ethiopia, coffee is often roasted together with some cloves in the so-called “coffee ceremony.”

In England, they are used for special types of sweets or sweet bread, and especially stewed fruits [together with cinnamon]. In France, cloves often go along with meat stews.

The name derives from the French clou, a nail, as the buds vaguely resemble small irregular nails in shape. Many spice mixtures contain cloves. They form an essential part of Chinese spice powder, frequently appear in curry powders, determine the character of Moghul variant garam masala and a component of Arabic baharat. Cloves have also established themselves in Mexico. The taste of the famous Worcestershire sauce and indo-British contribution to international cuisine is markedly dominated by clove aroma.

Cloves can be used in cooking either whole or in ground form, but they are extremely strong and so they are used sparingly. Cloves have historically been used in Indian cuisine [both north Indian and south Indian]. In the north Indian cuisine, cloves are used in almost every sauce or side dish mostly ground along with green cardamoms. In the south Indian cuisine, they find extensive use in rice dishes and are normally added whole to enhance the presentation and flavour of the rice.

Cloves impart a particular aroma because of the presence of essential oil in them. The compound responsible for the aroma is eugenol. It is the main component in the essential oil extracted from cloves, comprising 72 to 90 percent eugenol and has pronounced antiseptic and anaesthetic properties. Other important constituents include essential oils like salicylate, which acts as the painkiller.

History of Cloves

Eugenia caryophyllus or Syzygium aromaticum or Clavus (meaning nail) in Latin, is popularly known as cloves. It is commercially in demand today as a food item and as a medicine ingredient. Clove is also extensively used in soaps, lotions, and toothpaste, and other topical applications.

It is also used in perfumery, pharmaceutical and flavouring industries. The major producers of this spice are Indonesia, Zanzibar and Madagascar. Indonesia alone accounts for 66 % of the world production where clove cigarettes are manufactured.

States in India that grow clove are Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. In ancient days, clove was known to be the cause of battles fought, as it was one of the best spices traded.

The spice is made from the plucked floral buds. The clove buds are an initial pink in colour as they grow out, however, they turn a fiery red colour – this is the point at which they are plucked to be sun dried and turned into the deep reddish brown and familiar spice called cloves.

Dietary uses

Whole cloves can be stored for about a year but powdered cloves are best if used within two months or earlier or else it could lose its volatile principles and become less effective. Powdered clove is used for baking, in perfumes, and for medicinal purposes in India just as in all other Asian countries.

Cloves are an excellent source of manganese, dietary fibre, vitamin C and K, omega-3 fatty acids, flavonoids and also a good source of calcium and magnesium.

Medicinal uses

Known for being a mild anaesthetic, anti-inflammatory as well as an anti-bacterial agent, it is extensively used in relieving pain in oral ailments. Ayurveda recognises it as an antiseptic, analgesic, antimicrobial, antispasmodic, antiviral, anti-parasitic, anaesthetic, and carminative. It prevents vomiting, acts as a digestive, and a mild sexual stimulant. Clove is said to be effective against coli, streptococci, staphylococci, and pneumococci. It is believed to prevent stomach upset, traveller’s diarrhoea and wound infections.

Cloves boiled in water are recommended to be taken daily as the digestive stimulant. Cloves, alone or with tulsi, pepper and honey, help relieve a cough. This can also be given to small kids when they frequently develop a cough, cold, and sore throat. Elderly people can be advised to eat a clove daily to be relieved of their aches, flatulence and other digestive problems.

Cloves are used in Ayurveda, Chinese medicines, western herbal medicine and dentistry, where its essential oil is used as an anodyne for dental emergencies. Cloves are used as a carminative to increase hydrochloric acid in the stomach and to improve peristalsis. The essential oil is used in aromatherapy when stimulation is needed, especially for digestive problems.

In the south Indian cuisine, cloves find extensive use in rice dishes and are added whole to enhance the presentation.

Cloves help to ease toothaches and provide relief from pain. One glass of hot water with one teaspoon of powdered cloves, when taken during indigestion and diarrhoea, helps to relieve indigestion and other such intestinal problems.

Cloves have healing properties. It is helpful in healing of cuts and bites. When a paste of clove powder and water is made and is applied to the affected area [of cuts and bites], it promotes faster healing. Cloves help to relieve muscle tension, stimulates the mind and is also helpful in improving memory.

Large amounts of cloves should be avoided in pregnancy. Cloves can be irritating to gastrointestinal [GI] tract, and should be avoided by people with gastric ulcers, colitis or irritable bowel syndrome. In overdoses, cloves can cause vomiting, nausea, diarrhoea and upper GI haemorrhage. The use of essential oil should be restricted to three drops per day for an adult as excessive use can cause severe kidney damage.

Tjengkeh, the Indonesian word (in Dutch spelling) for clove. Dutch Indonesian exhibition at the Tong Tong Fair.

Until modern times, cloves grew only on a few islands in the Maluku Islands (historically called the Spice Islands), including Bacan, Makian, Moti, Ternate, and Tidore. Nevertheless, they found their way west to the Middle East and Europe well before the 1st century AD. Archeologists found cloves within a ceramic vessel in Syria along with evidence dating the find to within a few years of 1721 BC.

In the 3rd century BC, a Chinese leader in the Han Dynasty required those who addressed them to chew cloves so as to freshen their breath. Cloves, along with nutmeg and pepper, were highly prized in Roman times, and Pliny the Elder once famously complained that "there is no year in which India does not drain the Roman Empire of fifty million sesterces".

Cloves were traded by Muslim sailors and merchants during the Middle Ages in the profitable Indian Ocean trade, the Clove trade is also mentioned by Ibn Battuta and even famous One Thousand and One Nights characters such Sinbad the Sailor is known to have bought and sold Cloves.  In the late 15th century, Portugal took over the Indian Ocean trade, including cloves, due to the Treaty of Tordesillas with Spain and a separate treaty with the sultan of Ternate. The Portuguese brought large quantities of cloves to Europe, mainly from the Maluku Islands. Clove was then one of the most valuable spices, a kg costing around 7 g of gold.

The high value of cloves and other spices drove Spain to seek new routes to the Maluku Islands, which would not be seen as trespassing on the Portuguese domain in the Indian Ocean. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain sponsored the unsuccessful voyages of Christopher Columbus, and their grandson Charles V sponsored the voyage of Ferdinand Magellan. The fleet led by Magellan reached the Maluku Islands after his death, and the Spanish were successful in briefly capturing this trade from the Portuguese. The trade later became dominated by the Dutch in the 17th century. With great difficulty, the French succeeded in introducing the clove tree into Mauritius in the year 1770. Subsequently, their cultivation was introduced into Guiana, Brazil, most of the West Indies, and Zanzibar.

In Britain in the 17th and 18th centuries, cloves were worth at least their weight in gold, due to the high price of importing them.

Healing Power and Curative Properties

Cloves have many medicinal virtues. They are stimulant. They are useful in counteracting spasmodic disorders and in relieving flatulence. They help stimulate sluggish circulation and thereby promote digestion and metabolism. In the Indian system of medicine, cloves are used in various conditions either in the form of a powder or a decoction made from them. Clove oil contains ingredients that help stabilize blood circulation and regulate body temperature. Clove oil, applied outwardly, has stimulating effects on the skin, producing heat and redness.

Digestive Disorders

Cloves promote enzymatic flow and boost digestive functioning. They are used in various forms of gastric irritability and dyspepsia. Licking the powder of fried cloves mixed with honey is effective in controlling vomiting. The anesthetic action of clove numbs the gullet and stomach and stops vomiting.

Cholera

Cloves are very useful for treating cholera. About 4 grams of cloves are boiled in 3 liters of water until half the water has evaporated. This water, taken in draughts, will check severe symptoms of the disease.

Coughs

Chewing a clove with a crystal of common salt eases expectoration, relieves the irritation in the throat and stops a cough in the pharynges—that is, inflammation of the pharynx. Chewing a burnt clove is also an effective medicine for coughs caused by the congested throat and pharyngitis.

Three to five drops of clove oil mixed with honey and a clove of garlic helps alleviate the painful spasmodic coughs in tuberculosis, asthma and bronchitis. It should be taken once before going to bed.

Asthma

Clove is an effective remedy for asthma. A teaspoon of the decoction prepared by boiling 6 cloves in 30 ml of water can be taken with honey thrice daily as an expectorant.

Teeth Disorders

The use of a clove in a toothache decreases pain. It also helps to decrease infection due to its antiseptic properties. Clove oil, applied to a cavity in a decayed tooth, also relieves a toothache.

Earache

A clove sautéed in a teaspoon of sesame oil and 3 to 5 drops of this (warm) oil put into the ear can cure an earache.

Muscular Cramps

Muscular cramps are often relieved when the oil of dove is applied as a poultice near the affected portion.

Headaches

A paste of clove and salt crystals in milk is a common household remedy for headaches. Salt, as a hygroscopic agent, absorbs fluid and decreases tension.

Stye

Clove is one of the best remedies for styes which is an inflammation around the eyelash. A clove stub rubbed in water and then applied over the style gives relief.

Other Uses

Cloves are used as a table spice and mixed with chillies, cinnamon, turmeric and other spices in the preparation of curry powder. They are also used to flavour the betel quid (pan pad). Clove oil is used in the manufacture of perfumes, soaps, bath salts and as a flavouring agent in medicine and dentistry.
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