Skip to main content

Clove (Syzygium aromaticum)

Cengkeh or clove or Eugenia aromaticum (Syzygium aromaticum) is a plant species in Myrtaceae, growing up to 10-20 m, large leaves and dark red flowers are grouped in terminals, dried flower-scented buds, widely used as cooking spices, medical ingredients, oils and typical cigarettes Indonesia.

S. aromaticum has flowers in a pale hue and gradually turns green, then bright red when ready for harvest. Cloves are harvested 1.5-2.0 cm long and consist of long petals which end in four diffuse sepals and four unopened petals that form a small middle ball.

Dlium Clove (Syzygium aromaticum)

Clove has a number of varieties including Afo, Posi-posi, Siputih, Zanzibar, and Sikotok. Zanzibar has lush leaves and dark green, low branches on the stem and produces light green flower buds. Siputih cloves have branches at the top of the stem, lush leaves and yellow-green flower buds.

Morphology of S. aromaticum is classified into 3 types: Maluku (Afo, Tibobo, Tauro, Sibela, Indari, Air Mata, Dokiri and Daun Buntal), wild (Raja, Amahusu, Gunung Haria and Bogor Forest), and cultivation (Zanzibar, Siputih, Sikotok and Ambon).

Flower buds have a size of 2 cm and appear after 4-6 years. Flower buds are harvested at maturity before flowering, then dried in the sun until they are dark brown. Wood, leaves and fruit are harvested for processing into clove oil.

Cengkeh is one of the spices which is often used as a preservative agent for food and medicinal plants which has antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. Oils are often used for antiseptics, antifermentation, disinfectants, analgesics, and anesthetics for toothache, treating diarrhea, dyspepsia and sore throats.



Clove tree growth requires a tropical and subtropical climate with 2,332 mm/year of rainfall, hillsides and river banks at an altitude of 0-1500 m and a temperature of 20-30C. Trees are propagated vegetatively and generatively. Cultivation in sandy soil, pH 4.5-6, good drainage and high content of organic compounds.

Trees produce at maximum age at 7 years and continue to increase until they are 30 years old. After 30 years and over, productivity will decline. High production in a certain year is usually followed by a decrease in production in the next 1-2 years due to large harvests followed by two small harvests.

Essential oils contain eugenol, caryophyllene, furfural, vanillin, methyl salicylate, pyrocatechol, methyl ketone, valeric aldehydes, eugenin, isoeugenitol, isoeugenitin, eugenitin, tannin, mucilage, sitosterol, estigmaterol, resins, cellulose, pinene, oleanolic acid and fixed oil.

Eugenol is the main bioactive compound from cloves for 9381-14650mg/100g, while isoeugenol is a pale yellow oil extracted from clove oil, hydrophobic, soluble in organic solvents and has a spicy taste.

Eugenol and isoeugenol are used for perfume and aroma therapy, food flavoring, vanilla making, antiseptics, local analgesics, UV absorbers, biocides and antioxidants for plastics and rubber, clove cigarettes and incense. Dried clove leaves are finely ground as a vegetable pesticide to control Fusarium.

Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Syzygium
Species: S. aromaticum

Popular Posts

Black potato (Coleus rotundifolius)

Black potato ( Coleus rotundifolius ) is a species of plant in Lamiaceae, herbaceous, fibrous roots and tubers, erect and slightly creeping stems, quadrangular, thick, and slightly odorous. Single leaves, thick, membranous, opposite and alternate. Leaves are oval, dark green and shiny on the upper side, bright green on the lower side. Up to 5 cm long, up to 4 cm wide, slightly hairy and pinnate leaf veins. Leaf stalks up to 4 cm long. Small, purple flowers. Star-shaped petals, lip-shaped crown, dark to light purple with a slightly curved tube shape. Flowering from February-August. Small tubers, brown and white flesh and tuber length 2-4 cm. Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Tracheophyta Subphylum: Angiospermae Class: Magnoliopsida Order: Lamiales Family: Lamiaceae Subfamily: Nepetoideae Tribe: Ocimeae Subtribe: Plectranthinae Genus: Coleus Species: Coleus rotundifolius

Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) manufacture bubble-nets as tools to increase prey intake

NEWS - Humpback whales ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) create bubble net tools while foraging, consisting of internal tangential rings, and actively control the number of rings, their size, depth and horizontal spacing between the surrounding bubbles. These structural elements of the net increase prey intake sevenfold. Researchers have known that humpback whales create “bubble nets” for hunting, but the new report shows that the animals also manipulate them in a variety of ways to maximize catches. The behavior places humpbacks among the rare animals that make and use their own tools. “Many animals use tools to help them find food, but very few actually make or modify these tools themselves,” said Lars Bejder, director of the Marine Mammal Research Program (MMRP), University of Hawaii at Manoa. “Humpback whales in southeast Alaska create elaborate bubble nets to catch krill. They skillfully blow bubbles in patterns that form a web with internal rings. They actively control details such ...

Bright white flat-backed millipede (Trichopeltis jiyue) like moon emerging from behind dark rain clouds

NEWS - Bright white flat-backed millipede ( Trichopeltis jiyue sp. nov.) from Ailaoshan National Nature Reserve in Yunnan Province, is the second recorded epigean species of Trichopeltis Pocock 1894 in China. Jiyue (Chinese spelling) refers to the bright white appearance of the animal, like the moon emerging from behind dark rain clouds. Polydesmida is one of the most diverse orders of Diplopoda (millipedes) with about 5000 species in 30 families and is widely distributed worldwide. All Polydesmida are blind, eyeless and metaterga usually show small to prominent lateral paranota or paraterga. Cryptodesmidae Karsch 1880 is a family Polydesmida with about 40 genera and 130 species distributed in the Neotropics (Mexico to Argentina), Afrotropics (continental sub-Saharan Africa) and Asia-Australasia (Central Asia and the Himalayas to Japan and Papua New Guinea). In tropical or subtropical Asia and Australasia, 12 genera and 36 species have been documented in Cryptodesmidae. Trichopeltis P...