Botanical description
Plant: An evergreen tree, it has a conical shape, flowering, with a four-part flower, and it has a strong aromatic smell. The average height of the clove tree is from 8 to 12 meters. It is one of the oldest and most famous spices, its seeds are like nails and it is the most used part of it.
Its dried seeds are used as a spice in many foods and as a spice for Arabic coffee. in addition to its various and useful medical effects. Its common names in the Arabian Peninsula include “Al-Awaidi” or “the nail.”
Medical uses
Cloves are described as an antipyretic, antiseptic, and stomach sterilizer. It cures sores and headaches, protects against epidemics, helps digestion, soothes toothache, relieves allergic infections, and stimulates the heart and stomach. A volatile oil called eugenol is extracted from the seeds of cloves, which has special therapeutic properties for toothache, and the oil can also be extracted from the stem of the clove tree and its leaves by distillation. It also helps in quitting smoking.
Unground cloves with red tea prevents lung cancer and eliminates asthma, chest allergies and chronic cough.
Method: Put 100 grams of unground cloves with 50 grams of red tea in a liter of drinking water in a flask and put it at room temperature for 24 hours, then take it in the morning and evening and when needed.
The dental clinic is not without clove oil because of its antibacterial properties, especially those that cause oral and dental diseases such as those that cause cavities. The doctor uses this oil to sterilize dental gaps and roots during treatment. The effect of eugenol oil on the most important types of caries bacteria has been scientifically proven in an article published in 2011.
The origin of cloves
Native to the Moluccas in Indonesia and the southern Philippines, cloves are now widely cultivated in several countries such as Tanzania, Madagascar, the Andes and Brazil.
In spring or summer, they become semi-ripe offshoots. Unopened flower buds are harvested twice a year when they grow and dried by the sun. Cloves are used as a local anesthetic, especially in the dental field.