No doubt, when you hear the word 'cloves', the first thing that comes to the mind is the clove oil when applied to tooth ache giving us immense relief immediately.
The word 'clove' is derived from the Latin word 'clavus' meaning 'nail'. It is native to Molucca islands in Indonesia and is also grown in India, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Brazil. It was widely used during Indian and Chinese civilisations. The tree has a straight trunk growing between 10 to 12 mts.
Clove is an unopened bud of the evergreen clove tree. They are picked by hand when they are pink in colour, and dried till they become brown. A clove averages half inch tall with a small bud on the top. It resembles a nail and hence the name. It has hard exterior but when chewed gives out a very aromatic pungent oil which has many medicinal qualities.
Clove contains the component Eugenol which gives it the anti inflammatory property which makes it an interesting spice to research for more medicinal uses. Pregnant ladies and others who suffer from nausea can keep chewing a couple of clove pods which will instantly relieve them of the discomfort. It is also used widely as a mouth freshner which when chewed emits a strong flavour in the mouth and retains the freshness feeling for a long time.
Muscular cramps are relieved on application of clove oil. When prepared a concoction with other herbs, it serves as a good expectorant. When added to other spices in making masala, enhances the dish with a tongue licking aroma. It is used as a support ingredient when cooking dishes which might produce flatulence. Adding this, will reduce the effect.
We cannot store cloves powder for a long time, lest it loses its flavour. The best way to effectively use clove is by grinding it with the required ingredients for the respective dishes or by just dropping whole cloves in oil just to extract the flavour. Just a few pods bring out great flavour.
Few drops of clove oil mixed with coconut oil when applied on acne scars will fade the scars. A teaspoon of clove powder when mixed with honey and applied to acnes proves a good remedy to cure it.
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Thanks for the good facts.
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