Cloves

Clove is an unopened flower bud growing on a tree belonging to the family Myrtaceae which is same as that of guavas.

Cloves were important in the earliest spice trade and are believed to be indigenous to the Moluccas, or Spice Islands, of Indonesia. However, nowadays clove is cultured in several parts of the world including Brazil in the state of Bahia. The term ‘Clove’ is derived from the French word ‘Clou’ and the English word ‘Clout’, both meaning ‘nail’- from the likeliness of the flower bud of the Clove tree to a broadheaded nail.

Cloves are a versatile spice that add flavor while also providing health benefits. They are high in antioxidants, may help regulate blood sugar, and can kill bacteria. Clove represents one of the major vegetal sources of phenolic compounds as flavonoids, hidroxibenzoic acids, hidroxicinamic acids and hidroxiphenyl propens.

Cloves are strongly pungent owing to eugenol, which is extracted by distillation to yield oil of cloves. Eugenol is the main bioactive compound of clove, which is found in concentrations ranging from 9 381.70 to 14 650.00 mg per 100 g of fresh plant material.

Whole cloves are either removed before serving or picked out of the dish. Even when cooked, whole cloves have a very hard, woody texture that would be unpleasant to bite into.

Clove is very aromatic, has a fine flavor and imparts warming qualities. It is used as a culinary spice as the flavor blends well with both sweet and savory dishes. Clove is often used to flavor meat products, pastries, cookies, candies, chewing gum, spiced fruits, hot spiced drinks, chocolate drinks, wines and liqueurs, puddings, sandwiches, cakes, curries, and pickles. It's one of the components of garam masala.

Cloves also feature in any number of desserts, especially ground cloves, and particularly around the holidays. It is a common kitchen spice used for studding particularly tomatoes, onions, sausage, soups, salads and herbal teas.
Cloves

Black pepper

Black pepper (Piper Nigrum Linn) is a viny perennial plant producing berry-like and aromatic pungent fruits.

Dried ripe berries become black and wrinkled constituting black pepper. Black pepper yields both black and white pepper. Black pepper is made by drying ripe or unripe fruits under the sun; white pepper by soaking, treating and removing outer skin of berry before drying. Ground black pepper, usually referred to simply as “pepper”, may be commonly found on nearly every dinner table, often alongside table salt, in some parts of the world. Dried ground pepper is one of the most common spices in European cuisine and its descendants in other parts of the world.

Black pepper is one of the most commonly used spices in the preparation of hamburger to enhance flavor and aroma. Black pepper (Piper nigrum) known as the king of spices, is one of the oldest and the most important spices in the world. The characteristic pungent aroma of black pepper is due to a mixture of several compounds.

Since black pepper is essentially a spice, varieties that are developed should have good quality attributes such as significant levels of oleoresins, piperine and volatile essential oil.

Since the discovery of black pepper’s active ingredient, piperine, the use of black pepper has caught the interest of modern medical researchers.

Many physiological effects of black pepper, its extracts or its bioactive compound, piperine, have been reported in recent decades. By stimulating the digestive enzymes of the pancreas, piperine enhances digestive capacity and significantly reduces gastrointestinal food transit time.
Black pepper

The uses of turmeric

Curcuma longa L. belongs to the family Zingiberaceae which falls under the order Zingiberales of monocots and is an important genus in the family.

Fresh turmeric rhizome has a brown skin and bright orange flesh. Each rhizome consists of a central bulb portion bearing a number of finger-like lateral offshoots, called the fingers. A rhizome similar to ginger, turmeric is picked young, cleaned, boiled then dried in the sun.

Turmeric has long been used to color skin, clothing and foods for ceremonics surrounding marriage and death.

In the United States, the main used of turmeric is to provide color and non-pungent filler in prepared mustards. It is used very generally in East Indian cooker, not only since it is one the major component of most prepared curry powders, making up 25-50% of their weight, but because of the sweet richness which its flavor imparts to fish and rice dishes and sauces.

Both the whole root and the ground spice are flavorings for pickles, relishes and chowchows. Fresh turmeric is crunchy with a rich, gingery, citrus aroma and a –pleasant earthy flavor. Fresh turmeric adds a wonderful flavour and a rich golden yellow hue to dishes.

Turmeric is also sweet enough to be used instead of saffron as coloring for cakes and cookies and it gives a rich taste and beautiful color to rice dishes.

Turmeric is an antioxidant that neutralizes free radicals and therefore protects against cancer. It is believed that high consumption of the spice prevents the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.
The uses of turmeric