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Allspice | | Name : | Allspice | | Botanical : | Pimento officinalis | | Synonyms : | Clovepepper
Jamaicapepper
Pimento
| | Family : | Myrtaceae | | Parts Used : | Fruit | | Habitat : | Grows in the West Indies, South America, Central America, and Mexico. | | Constituents : | The chief constituent of Pimento is from 3 to 4.5 per cent of a volatile oil, contained in glands in the pericarp of the seeds and obtained by distillation from the fruit.
It occurs as a yellow or yellowish-red liquid, becoming gradually darker on keeping and having a pleasant aromatic odour, somewhat similar to that of oil of cloves, and a pungent, spicy taste. It has a slightly acid reaction. It is soluble in all proportions of alcohol. The specific gravity is 1.030 to 1.050. Its chief constituent is the phenol Eugenol, which is present to the extent of 60 to 75 per cent, and a sesquiterpene, the exact nature of which has not yet been ascertained. The specific gravity to some extent indicates the amount present; if lower than 1.030, it may be assumed that some eugenol has been removed, or that the oil has been adulterated with substitutes having a lower specific gravity than that of eugenol. The eugenol can be determined by shaking the oil with a solution of potassium hydroxide and measuring the residual oily layer. The United States Pharmacopoeia specifies that at least 65 per cent by volume of eugenol should be present. On shaking the oil with an equal volume of strong solution of ammonia, it should be converted into a semisolid mass of eugenol-ammonium.
The clove-like odour of the oil is doubtless due to the eugenol, but the characteristic odour is due to some other substance or substances as yet unknown. A certain amount of resin is also present, but the oil has not yet been fully investigated.
Bonastre obtained from the fruit, a volatile oil, a green fixed oil, a fatty substance in yellowish flakes, tannin, gum, resin, uncrystallizable sugar, colouring matter, malic and gallic acids, saline matter and lignin. The green fixed oil has a burning, aromatic taste of Pimento and is supposed to be the acrid principle. Upon this, together with the volatile oil, the medicinal properties of the berries depend, and as these two principles exist most in the shell, this part is the most efficient. According to Bonastre, the shell contains 1O per cent of the volatile and 8 per cent of the fixed oil; the seeds only 5 per cent of the former and 2.5 of the latter. Berzelius considered the green fixed oil of Bonastre to be a mixture of the volatile oil, resin, fixed oil and perhaps a little chlorophyll.
On incineration, the fruits yield from 2.5 to 5 per cent of ash.
They impart their flavour to water and all their virtues to alcohol. The infusion is of a brown colour and reddens litmus paper.
The leaves and bark abound in inflammable particles. | | Uses : | The chief use of Pimento is as a spice and condiment: the berries are added to curry powder and also to mulled wine. It is popular as a warming cordial, of a sweet odour and grateful aromatic taste.
The oil inaction resembles that of cloves, and is occasionally used in medicine and is also employed in perfuming soaps.
It was formerly official in both the British and United States Pharmacopoeias. Both Pimento Oil and Pimento Water were official in the British Pharmacopoeia of 1898, but Oil of Pimento was deleted from the British Pharmacopceia of 1914, though the Water still has a place in the British Pharmacopceia Codex.
Pimento has also been dropped from the United States Pharmacopoeia, but admitted to the National Formulary IV. Pimento is one of the ingredients in the Compound Tincture of Guaic of the National Formulary IV.
Pimento is an aromatic stimulant and carminative to the gastro-intestinal tract, resembling cloves in its action. It is employed chiefly as an addition to tonics and purgatives and as a flavouring agent.
The Essential Oil, as well as the Spirit and the distilled Water of Pimento are useful for flatulent indigestion and for hysterical paroxysms. Two or three drops of the oil on sugar are given to correct flatulence. The oilis also given on sugar and in pills to correct the griping tendencies of purgatives: it was formerly added to Syrup of Buckthorn to prevent griping.
Pimento Water (Aqua Pimentae) is used as a vehicle for stomachic and purgative medicines. It is made by taking 5 parts of bruised Pimento to 200 parts of water and distilling down to 100, the dose being 1 to 2 fluid ounces. | | Dosage : | Pimento water: combine 5 parts crushed berrieswith 200 parts water and distill down to half the originalvolume. A dose is from 1-2 fluid ounces.
Oil: a dose is from 2-5 drops. For flatulence,take 2 or 3 drops on sugar.
Powder: a dose is from 10-30 grains.
Plaster: boil crushed berries in water until the mixture isthick enough to spread on a linen cloth. | | Myths : | Allspice tastes like a blend of cloves, cinnamon, and nutmeg, butis actually a single spice ground from the under-ripe dried berryof a tropical, evergreen myrtle tree, native to the West Indies andCentral America. Smith's Dictionary of Economic Plants states: 'InJamaica the berries are highly spoken of as a substitute for tobacco,being odoriferous, but they require a long pipe to smoke them, whenthey afford a treat unknown in smoking tobacco.' |
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