What is Clove? A Guide to Flavour Chemistry & Applications
Commonly found in baked goods, spicy stews, and hot beverages, cloves are a spice that has both historical and cultural significance in Indonesia.
Previously deemed as precious as gold, its high eugenol content makes this spice both strongly aromatic and potent – creating opportunities in both F&B and the wellness space.
Get to know cloves better and discover their potential medicinal properties as well as functional applications.
Key Takeaways:
- Cloves are buds, specifically aromatic unopened flower buds of the evergreen tree Syzygium aromaticum with a pungent, sweet, and spicy aroma.
- Cloves are among the strongest aromatic spices, owing their potency to eugenol, a phenolic antioxidant that provides their aroma, pungency, as well as potential health benefits.
- Cloves are rich in antioxidants, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. Research suggests cloves may help fight bacteria and inflammation, regulate blood sugar, promote bone health, and reduce stomach ulcers.
- Cloves can be seamlessly integrated into sweet and savoury F&B formulations, as well as potential wellness applications.
- ORIGINE provides a single-origin, 100% traceable, clean-label, and versatile product line that ensures protected potency, ethical sourcing, and zero-compromise quality control.
What Is Clove? Its Origins and History
Cloves (Syzygium aromaticum) are the unopened flower buds of an evergreen tree featuring a pungent, sweet, and spicy aroma driven primarily by the chemical compound eugenol. Intact, premium, whole cloves are shaped like nails with a reddish-brown to dark brown colour.
Originating from the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, cloves hold deep historical significance and are considered a defining spice of the country. Previously monopolized by the colonial Dutch, cloves were once considered as precious as gold and drove the global trade network. Outside interference and off-island cultivation were strictly prohibited to maintain scarcity.
Although now grown in other tropical climates, Indonesia still accounts for the majority of global clove production. The spice is now widely used in various applications for its intense warmth, pungent aroma, and high antioxidant properties.
The Chemistry of Cloves: Eugenol and Potency
Cloves are rich in phenolics, particularly eugenol as the major bioactive constituent. While eugenol is found in many different spices like cinnamon and nutmeg, it’s most abundant in cloves at 70%-90% of their extracted constituent. This explains why these spices share warm, pungent notes, with clove as the reigning king.
Other active compounds that contribute to clove’s aroma and potency are caryophyllene and minor compounds that add woody, sweet undertones.
Eugenol possesses antimicrobial, antiseptic, and anti-inflammatory properties. It’s traditionally used in folk medicine to ease toothache via steeped clove tea and historically used as a natural food preservative, pesticide, and fumigant.
The higher the eugenol content, the more potent the clove bud. Consequently, volatile oil content serves as a primary marker of clove quality, along with the proportion of “headless” cloves, the quantity of filth and extraneous matter, and the moisture content.
Based on these markers and the standards set by ISO 2254:2004, there are three distinct grades:
- CG1: Premium grade cloves (hand-picked)
- CG2: Intermediary grade cloves
- CG3: Standard grade cloves.
Health Benefits of Cloves
Because cloves are packed with eugenols and other bioactive compounds, cloves exhibit robust antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. Research suggests that they may help alleviate and improve certain health conditions:
- Fight bacteria and inflammation. This explains its use in traditional medicine as a toothache remedy. Additionally, it may alleviate other forms of infection.
- Regulate blood sugar. A study on prediabetic patients showed improvement in blood glucose levels, although more research is needed to confirm.
- Promote bone health. Cloves contain eugenol, which may improve bone mass. It also has a decent amount of manganese, which is important for bone formation and overall health.
- Reduce stomach ulcers. Spices are often used to combat stomach issues, cloves being one of them. Thanks to its anti-bacterial properties, clove oil may protect against bacteria that trigger stomach issues.
From Farm to Shelf: ORIGINE’s Fully Traceable Cloves
When it comes to cloves, the right terroir, patience, and absolute supply chain control are key to maintaining potency – and ORIGINE manages to hit all the right points. Here is the ORIGINE difference:
- We created a product ecosystem where we can trace 100% of our clove products. That’s because we partner directly with farmer networks on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. We also have an in-house drying and processing facility, ensuring complete traceability, ethical sourcing, and zero-compromise quality control all at once.
- All our products are carefully harvested and hand-picked at the right moment, ensuring their premium quality. The cloves are sun-dried and aged for one year to develop a unique flavour.
- Our diverse product line allows your creativity to take charge. From whole cloves, cut cloves, ground cloves, clove liquid extract, and clove extract powder.
- Free of artificial ingredients, our products can seamlessly integrate into any clean label innovation. This puts you ahead of the curve and your competition, ready to take on health-conscious consumer demands.
How Are Cloves Used Today?
Although the majority of cloves’ market is the local cigarette or Kretek industry, its bioactive compounds mean the spice has other versatile applications. As one of the strongest aromatic spices, cloves can elevate both sweet and savoury recipes. Moreover, its potency and eugenol content mean potential wellness applications.
Here are several ways you can incorporate cloves:
- Food & Beverage: Cloves are an essential component in spice blends, baking, marinades, and flavouring systems. They are a core element as ground cloves in the Chinese Five Spice mix as well as Indian Garam Masala. It also adds a serious pungency to ciders and RTD beverages.
- Fragrance & Wellness: Bioactive compounds make cloves ideal for wellness and personal care applications. They are widely used in essential oils, perfumery, and oral care formulations for their natural antimicrobial properties. One popular example is the combination of black walnut, wormwood, and cloves as a gut supplement.
It’s important to note that clove’s essential oil is highly potent and can cause irritation. Thus, dilution might be needed, or better yet, use extracts, ground, or whole cloves.
ORIGINE offers a solution for every formulation type:
Final Take: Securing Authentic, High-Quality Cloves
There is no denying that cloves are a valuable spice defined by unmatched aromatic intensity and health benefits. However, true premium-quality cloves require careful cultivation, precise harvesting, and expert post-harvest processing.
At ORIGINE, we maintain total control over our production cycle, guaranteeing the finest quality cloves – from whole buds to extract powders. Source from ORIGINE and secure premium-quality ingredients for your next formulation journey.
Interested in more knowledge of Indonesian spices? Discover our blog articles below:
FAQ
What are cloves?
Cloves are buds, specifically aromatic unopened flower buds of the evergreen tree Syzygium aromaticum. It has a pungent, sweet, and spicy aroma due to the chemical compound eugenol.
What are the health benefits of cloves?
Cloves are rich in antioxidants (phenols), anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties. Research suggests that it may help fight bacteria and inflammation, regulate blood sugar, promote bone health, and reduce stomach ulcers.
Where are cloves originally from?
Cloves originally come from the islands of Maluku in Indonesia, but the spice is now cultivated in other parts of the Indian Ocean in regions with a similar tropical climate.
Which product applications are suitable for cloves?
Cloves are mainly used as seasoning or for their flavour or as a natural preservative, often used in spice blends, beverages, baking, and preserving baked goods/brines/meat products. It’s also known for its medicinal properties and is used in wellness products, such as oral and personal care, and household goods. Lastly, it’s also mixed into tobacco products for clove-flavoured cigarettes (kreteks).