ABSTRACT
Syzygium aromaticum L. [Syn. Eugenia caryophyllus (Spreng.) Bullock & S. G. Harrison; Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb.] is a medium-size tree of family Myrtaceae, having a commercially important unexpanded aromatic dried flower bud, commonly known as clove. Clove is derived from the French word Clau, meaning nail, based on its external appearance. Clove is a common spice used by all cultures as a flavoring agent as well as it is also having a broad therapeutic value. Although S. aromaticum is native to Maluku islands in East Indonesia, however, clove plants are abundantly found in several Asian countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and African countries such as Seychelles, Tanzania, Madagascar, and Comoro. Till date, Indonesia is the huge clove producer country at global level having 60% contribution of world output, i.e., approximately 4,000 tons yr–1 and is also one of the major sources for the livelihood of more than millions of small scale farmers (Danthu et al., 2020). Clove is also reported to have a major contribution as an economy booster to Asiatic regions as it is a highly demanding worldwide since ancient times. Mostly S. aromaticum is recognized as a spice in order to enhance the flavor of food, however, it is also having anticancerous properties and traditionally used in Asian countries as a potent remedy against sore throat, asthma, dental, respiratory, and digestive 372disorders. Further, aromatic extract of Syzygium aromaticum, i.e., Syzygium aromaticum essential oil (SAEO) is also a highly preferred present day fragrance and flavoring natural substance having pharmacological potencies with efficient antioxidant efficacy, expected to reduce risk of several diseases caused due to free radicals. EO of S. aromaticum is reported to have a significant role in dental care treatments due to its potent activity against dental caries and periodontal disease causing bacteria as well as several other pathogenic bacteria (Ali et al., 2020). Besides, SAEO is also reported to exhibit efficacious antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Vibrio chol- erae, Salmonella typhi, Proteus mirabilis, Shigella dysenteriae, Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia marc- escens, and Klebsiella ozaenae (Saeed and Tariq, 2008). Moreover, SAEO is also reported to have potent anti-mutagenic, anti-carcinogenic, antifungal, anti-mycotoxigenic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-allergic properties. SAEO is comprised of different bioactives, i.e., triterpenoids, phenolics, and sesquiterpenes contributing to its biological activities. Figure 61.1 depicts the phytochemical diversity and therapeutic potencies of SAEO. In recent times, clove is highly preferred as a food preservative due to its enormous potential against storage microbes as well as safety paradigm. SAEO as well as eugenol, principal bioactive of SAEO is also categorized under generally recognized as safe (GRAS) substances by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (Sellamuthu, 2014). Thus in order to explore the pharmacological potencies of SAEO and its bioactive components, the present chapter throws light on historical perspective and ethnomedicinal properties of Syzygium aromaticum, along with illustrating the phytochemical composition of SAEO and their bioactivity.
