Clove tree
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Clove tree ( Syzygium aromaticum ), illustration |
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| Syzygium aromaticum | ||||||||||||
| ( L. ) Merr. & LMPerry |
The clove tree ( Syzygium aromaticum ) is a species of plant in the myrtle family (Myrtaceae).
The cloves , also called cloves , are the strongly fragrant and burning hot-tasting, dried flower buds of this plant species, which originally came from the Moluccas (spice islands). The name (from Middle Low German negelkīn or Middle High German negelein / negelīn for nails ) comes from the shape of the buds, reminiscent of nails ( French clou de girofle : clou = nail). In the Alemannic language area , Nägeli (formerly also nägelli ) is common. The flowers known as carnations were named after cloves because of their nail-shaped and aromatic flowers.
description
The clove tree grows as an evergreen tree that can reach heights of over 10 meters, in culture it is usually smaller.
The simple and stalked, leathery leaves are opposite. They are bare, entire, rounded to pointed, pointed or pointed and ovate to elliptical or obovate and up to 10–13 centimeters long and 5–6 centimeters wide. They are covered with oil glands on the underside and the veins are finely pinnate with indistinct lateral veins.
It forms multi-flowered and terminal or axillary, short panicles with zymous groups of three. The aromatic and thick-stalked, four-fold, small flowers are hermaphroditic and with a double flower envelope , they sit on / on a "joint". The initially yellowish-green flowers later turn red. The flower cups is röhrig and fleshy up with a small outgrowth of the ovary around. The small, fleshy calyx tips are triangular. The whitish-reddish, (pseudo) calyphoid and rounded petals fall off early. The two-chamber ovary is (semi) under continuously with a tapered, relatively short stylus and there are many stamens present.
Usually solitary, dark purple to red and round to egg-shaped or ellipsoidal, thin-fleshed, about 2–2.5 centimeters long, smooth berries ( false fruit ) with persistent, fleshy calyx tips are formed.
The number of chromosomes is 2n = 22.
The 1–2 centimeter long buds must be hand-picked before they bloom, when they turn from green to pink and before the globular petals fall off. When dry, they turn brown and hard, resemble nails, and have lost three quarters of their weight. You can recognize good, fresh cloves by the fact that they feel greasy and they exude some oil when you press your fingernail against their stem . The swimming test also provides information about the quality: high-quality cloves sink in water or at least stand vertically with their heads up. Bad, that is, more or less de-oiled cloves, swim horizontally on the surface of the water.
history
Cloves have been known in Europe since the early Middle Ages , but were also described as occurring in India in ancient times. For a long time the Dutch had a monopoly on trade, shipping the plant mainly from Ambon , and even today cloves from the Moluccas (including Ternate ) are largely handled in Amsterdam and Rotterdam .
Cloves are now grown around the world. Those of the Moluccas, Zanzibar (whose island Pemba is also the main cultivation area) and Madagascar are considered to be of the best quality .
Taxonomy
Synonyms for the scientific name Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & LMPerry are Caryophyllus aromaticus L. , Eugenia aromatica (L.) Baill. , Eugenia caryophyllus (Spreng.) Bullock & SGHarrison and Eugenia caryophyllata Thunberg .
Use and ingredients
The essential oils they contain , which make up up to 15% of their content, determine the smell, taste and effect of cloves . They essentially consist of 70 to 85% eugenol (which is also found in cinnamon ), about 15% eugenol acetate and 5 to 12% β-caryophyllene . Another ingredient is oleanolic acid with 2%. Eugenol has a numbing effect, which is why chewing cloves is known as a home remedy for toothache . It is also said to be effective against bad breath . In a study, Spanish scientists examined the content of essential oils from five Mediterranean spices ( oregano , rosemary , thyme , sage and cloves) and came to the conclusion that cloves had the highest content of antioxidants ( polyphenols ). As an addition to meat products and other foods, they can stop fat oxidation and offer added health benefits.
The small brown buds taste very intense. In the kitchen, cloves are used - carefully dosed - to season marinades , sauces , sausage , meat and fish dishes, red cabbage , gingerbread and other things. They are also part of curry powder . You should only eat the head of cloves. It tastes round and noble, the stem, on the other hand, is almost penetratingly bitter. In stocks, soups and punch, cloves are cooked whole and removed at the end of the cooking time. Grind them in a mortar and season Christmas cookies and curries.
In the Middle Ages, cloves were seen as strengthening the liver, stomach and brain. The effectiveness of the flower buds and the leaves were considered to be similar. Genuine galangal was considered a pharmaceutical substitute .
The Indonesian kretek ( clove cigarettes , in German-speaking countries mainly known under the name of the market leader Gudang Garam ) contain, in addition to tobacco, a significant proportion of crushed cloves. More than half of the annual harvest is used to make Indonesian clove cigarettes.
symbolism
In the Middle Ages, the carnation was a symbol of the Passion of Christ , as the shape of the leaf and fruit was interpreted as a "nail".
In the song Guten Abend, gut 'Nacht , carnations appear under the name "Näglein".
Common names
For the flower buds of the clove tree , the other German-language trivial names existed or exist, in some cases only regionally : Kramernageln , Kramernegelen, Kreidenelken, Kreidnelken. And Muskatnogel , Muskatnogelken , nails , Nägelin , Nagelkin , nail tree (Middle High German). Nagelbom , Nagelein, Nagelin, Nagellin, Nalen (Middle Low German). Necheleche ( Old High German ) or Negelken, Neghelken, Neilikin , Nelchen , Nelchin, Nelgin , Nelekin , Nelikin , Neylicken (Middle High German) and Würznelken . Other names are: grot Necel, grote Negelken, Neghelken, large cloves, mother NAEGELEN and mother cloves .
gallery
Cloves in Munduk, Bali, Indonesia
blossoms
Fresh cloves while drying
Carnations dry by the roadside at harvest time
Clove tree in North Sulawesi, Indonesia
fruit
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literature
- Elisabeth Vaupel : Spices. Eight cultural and historical treasures. Deutsches Museum, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-924183-85-6 .
- EA Weiss: Spice Crops. CABI, Wallingford / Oxon / New York, NY, 2002, ISBN 0-85199-605-1 .
- Hermann Hager , Rudolf Hansel , Konstantin Keller, Horst Rimpler: Hager's handbook of pharmaceutical practice. Volume 6: Drugs P – Z , Springer, Berlin 1996, ISBN 3-540-52639-0 .
- Ingrid Schönfelder, Peter Schönfelder : The new manual of medicinal plants, botany medicinal drugs, active ingredients applications. Franckh-Kosmos, Stuttgart 2011, ISBN 978-3-440-12932-6 .
- TK Lim: Edible Medicinal and Non Medicinal Plants. Volume 8: Flowers , Springer, 2014, ISBN 978-94-017-8747-5 , pp. 460-482.
- KN Nair: The Genus Syzygium. CRC Press, 2017, ISBN 978-1-4822-4972-9 .
Web links
- Syzygium aromaticum at PROTA.
- Gernot Katzer's spice pages - languages and etymology of the clove - last change on May 8, 2008.
- Manuel Viuda-Martos, Yolanda Ruiz Navajas u. a .: Antioxidant activity of essential oils of five spice plants widely used in a Mediterranean diet. In: Flavor and Fragrance Journal. 25, 2010, p. 13, doi: 10.1002 / ffj.1951 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Schweizerisches Idiotikon , Volume IV, Column 692 f., Nägeli article (digitized version)
- ↑ Ernesto Pauli's Kochlexikon - Nelken - Gewürznelken ( Memento from July 2, 2017 in the Internet Archive ).
- ↑ Syzygium aromaticum at Tropicos.org. In: IPCN Chromosome Reports . Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
- ↑ Waldemar Ternes , Alfred Täufel, Lieselotte Tunger, Martin Zobel (eds.): Food Lexicon . 4th, comprehensively revised edition. Behr, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-89947-165-2 .
- ↑ C. Plinii Secundi Naturalis historia. Edited by D. Detlefsen , Berlin, 1866–1882, Book II, p. 218 f. (Chapter 12).
- ↑ Ursula Günther: On the history of the clove up to the end of the Middle Ages (Eugenia cariophyllata Thunb. Or Caryophyllus aromaticus L.). Medical dissertation Leipzig, 1937.
- ↑ Viuda-Martos et al .: Antioxidant activity of essential oils of five spice plants widely used in a Mediterranean diet. In: Flavor and Fragrance Journal . tape 25 , no. (1) , 2010, p. 13–19 , doi : 10.1002 / ffj . 1951 (English).
- ↑ Barbara Fehringer: The "Speyer herb book" with the medicinal plants of Hildegard von Bingen. A study on the Middle High German “Physica” reception with a critical edition of the text. Würzburg, 1994, (= Würzburg medical historical research , supplement 2), p. 92 (“Cariofoli [lies: cariophylli] is called negeline: the sint hot and trucken in the other grate and hant ettwaz füchtniße […]. Negelin uses the liver and the stomach. And […] the brain ”), ISBN 978-3-88479-771-6 .
- ↑ Konrad Goehl : Observations and additions to the 'Circa instans'. In: Medical historical messages. Journal for the history of science and specialist prose research. Volume 34, 2016, p. 2015, p. 69–77, here: p. 71.
- ^ Georg August Pritzel , Carl Jessen : The German folk names of plants. New contribution to the German linguistic treasure. Philipp Cohen, Hannover, 1882, p. 84, archive.org .
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