The clove plant is a plantation or industrial plant in the form of a tree in the Myrtaceae family. The origin of this plant is not clear because there are several opinions that the clove tree comes from North Maluku, the Maluku Islands, the Philippines, or Irian.
1.Clarification of cloves
According to Swanto, the scientific clarification of cloves is as follows:
Division : Spermatophyta
Subdivision : Angiosperms
Nation : Myrtales
Family : Myrtaceae
Class : Dicotyledoneae
Genus : Syzygium
Species : Syzygium aromatium L.
B.Local name
Cloves are known by various terms in several regions, such as flower cartilage (Sulawesi), bungeu lawang (Sumatra), and cloves (Java). Other terms for cloves include sinke, cangke, cengke, gomode, sake, singke, sangke, and hungo lawa.
C.Morpology
Cloves are tree plants with large, hardwood stems that reach a height of 20–30 m. This plant can survive for more than 100 years and grows well in tropical areas at high altitudes (asl). Clove plants have four types of roots: tap roots, lateral roots, fibrous roots, and hair roots. The leaves of the clove plant are single, thick-stemmed leaves with a petiole length of about 2–3 cm. Clove leaves are oval in shape with a pointed tip, flat, pinnate leaf veins, and a leaf length of 6–13 cm and a leaf width of 2.5–5 cm. The leaves are reddish green. Clove plants begin to flower after they are 4.8–8.5 years old, depending on the environmental conditions. Clove flowers are small single flowers with a length of 1-2 cm and are arranged in one bunch that comes out at the ends of the twigs. Each bunch consists of 2–3 panicle branches, which can branch further. The number of permalai flowers can reach more than 15 florets. Young clove flowers are light green, then change to pale greenish yellow and turn reddish when they are old. Dried clove flowers will be blackish brown and will It tastes spicy because it contains essential oils.
- Chemical content
Clove plants contain quite large amounts of essential oil, both in the flowers, stalks, and leaves. The oil from clove flowers is of the best quality because the yield is high and contains eugenol, reaching 80–90%. The essential oil content of clove flowers is dominated by eugenol, with a composition of 81-20%. Euganol is a clear to pale yellow-colored compound that is viscous like oil, easily soluble in organic solvents, and slightly soluble in water. Euganol has a molecular weight of 164.20. Euganol is a compound found in the essential oil of clove flowers and functions as an anti-functional and antibacterial agent. The mechanism of action of euganol on the biliary lipid membrane of fungal cells results in inhibition of ergosterol synthesis and disruption of the permeability of the fungal cell wall, resulting in degradation of the fungal cell wall, followed by membrane destruction. The cytoplasm comes out of the fungal cell wall. If this continues to happen, over time the fungal cells will experience a decrease in membrane function and metabolic imbalance due to disruption of nutrient transport, causing cell lysis and fungal growth to become inhibited.
D.Benefits
Clove plants are widely used in the cigarette, kretek, food, drink, and medicine industries. Clove plants are even used as traditional medicine because they have properties for treating toothache, heartburn during menstruation, rheumatism, aches and pains, colds, and as a body-warming concoction.
E.Distribution and habitat
Syzygium is the largest type in South Asia, Southeast Asia, China, Malesia, and Australia. Its main habitat is rainforests, but it can also grow in various types of vegetation, from coastal forests to mountains.
1).Economics
Cloves are known as the main thing in the spice trade and support the country’s economy. Apart from being used as a raw material for making cigarettes, cloves also play an important role in building plantations, even on a national scale.
2). Cooking and beverage ingredients
Cloves can be used as a spice or cooking seasoning, while the leaves themselves can be brewed to make tea.
3). Health
Cloves have been famous as a medicinal ingredient since the time of our ancestors. Cloves can even maintain digestive health, prevent inflammation, maintain heart health, and even fight cancer.
4). Beauty
Cloves can treat acne on the face, overcome hair loss, maintain healthy teeth, and even soften the skin.
F.How to Plant Cloves
1). Prepare the seeds.
Seeds can be harvested directly from the fruit; choose superior seeds. Then wash or soak the chinchilla in water.
2). Prepare the media selection.
Media selection is quite important to support growth, especially in the early stages of the equation.
3). Clove nursery
After sowing using a small planting medium, focus growth on the root organs.
4). Virgin clove plant
This stage needs to be paid attention to because if it is not careful, it will cause damage to the plant and even death.
5).Harvest
Clove fruit can be harvested when the tree reaches a height of more than 10 meters. Growth depends on environmental conditions and the plant, but more or less a tree can bear fruit after the age of 6 years.
The benefits of cloves for cooking, commonly called spices
>. Eliminates unpleasant odors in innards
The distinctive and sharp aroma of cloves can neutralize the unpleasant odor of offal. Therefore, cloves are usually used in processed meat. Dishes that usually use cloves to make kitchen spices include kebuli rice, curry, and stews.
>.neutralizes the fishy smell of the sea.
Clove spices can also remove the fishy smell of seefood; wash the seefood and sprinkle ground cloves on top.
>.strengthens the aroma of cooking
Clove oil makes the aroma of cooking more intense and aromatic.
- How to store clove oil
According to clove farmers, managers of micro, small, and medium enterprises in the clove oil refining business
>. First, the selection of raw materials
Clove leaves that are dry, clean, and not mixed with other ingredients will produce the desired oil.
Secondly, it will produce more clove leaf oil in the production process. The quality of clove leaf oil is influenced by the condition of the equipment used and the time of the distillation process. Kettles made from rust-proof materials are compared to distillation using kettles made from ordinary flat iron.
G.Definition of skin
The skin is the largest and heaviest organ system in the body, which is the organ that covers the entire surface of the body.