Clove is the dried flower bud of an evergreen tree native to Indonesia. The key steps in post-harvest handling of clove include harvesting the unopened flower buds by hand before they open, drying them quickly in the sun to prevent fermentation, winnowing and packaging the dried buds in moisture-proof packaging. Cloves are usually sold and stored whole rather than ground, as grinding reduces their storage life and quality. Proper drying, packaging, and storage help preserve the cloves' flavor and aroma.

1. Post harvest handling of clove

2. Introduction

3. Botanical name: Syzygium aromaticum
Family: Myrataceae
The clove is the unopened flower buds
Clove is a largely used as dried whole buds.ground clove is used for curry
mixtures and clove oil is used for flavoring foods and Pharmaceutical perfumery
industry.
They are native to the molucca islands in Indonesia, and are commonly used as
a spice.cloves are commercialy harvested Primarily in Indonesia, India,
Madagascar, Zanzibar, Pakistan,sri Lanka and Tanzania

4. • In India, clove was introduced in 1800 AD by the east India company
and is now cultivated in Tamil Nadu and Kerala and Karnataka.
• The Compound eugenol is responsible for most of the characteristic
aroma of cloves.

5. Sequence of post harvest operation in clove
Maturity indices
• The spice is the unopened flower bud produced on the terminal
shoots of the twigs
• The buds are collected when they are full red in colour.
• It is necessary to collect the buds before they open as otherwise the
value of the spice will be lost.

6. Processing of cloves
• Clove must be dried before they are stored and sold from market.this brief outline
the important steps that should be taken pre-harvest and post-harvest to ensure
that the dried cloves are of top quality for the market.
• Harvesting
• Pretreatment
• Winnowing
• Grinding
• Packaging
• Storage

7. harvesting
Time of harvesting
• The unopened buds are harvested when they are plump and rounded
and before they turn pink.
• At this stage,they are less than 2 cm long.
• The open
ed flowers are not valued as a spice.

8. • When the calyx ( outer green leaves) of the flower changes from olive
green to yellow pink and before the petals fall to expose the stamens,
the flower buds should be harvested.
• Clusters of flowers are harvested together by hand.
• One has to be careful not to over-pick the tree or to remove branches
as this reduce future crop yoelds.

9. Harvesting method
• Harvesting of clove should be done using step ladders without
damaging the tree branches,as it adversely affects the succeeding
growth.

10. Pre treatment
• Harvest the buds are detached from the stalks by holding a cluster in one
hand, pressing it against the palm of the other hand and slowly twisting
so that the buds fall off.
• The hands of the processor and the room in which the buds are
separated must be very clean to prevent contamination of the cloves
• The stems and buds are separated and dried separately, the stems can be
used for oil distillation.

12. Drying
• The buds have to be dried quickly or they will start to ferment.
• They are usually dried in the sun spread on clean mats.the cloves should
be taken and turned frequently to ensure they develop an even brown
colour.
• The colour of the buds changes from pale russet to a darker brown as
the clove dries, the drying process takes about four or five days,it
cannot be speeded up or the cloves will become dry, brittle and
withered rather than plum.

13. • The final moisture content of the dried cloves should be
8.10%.experienced clove dries will know when the cloves are fully dry
as the buds will snap easily.during the rainy season, cloves should be
dried using a mechanical drier such as a tray drier.
• During drying clove loses about 2-3rd of the original fresh green
weight
• Badly dried cloves are pale brown and classified as khulker.

15. Machine drying
• cloves being machine dried during monsoon season in Madagascar.

16. Winnowing and Grinding
winnowing
The dried buds are winnowed using a
Traditional Winnowing basket to remove
Dust and other foreign matters.small
Cleaning machines are available that use a
Blower to remove the dirt and dust.

17. Grinding
• Grinding can be a method of adding value to a product.
• However,it is not advisable to grind spices.
• After grinding, spices are more vulnerable to spoilage.the flavor and aroma
compounds are not suitable and will quickly disappear from ground products.
• the storage life of ground spices is much less than for the whole spices.it is
very difficult for the consumer to judge the quality of a ground spice.

18. • It is also very easy for unscrupulous processors to contaminate the
ground spice by adding other material.
• Therefore most consumer, from wholesalers to individual customers,
prefer to buy whole spices.
• Dried cloves are usually sold whole.

19. Packaging
• Cloves can be packaged in polythene bags of various sizes
according to the market demand.

20. • The bags should be sealed to prevent moisture entering.
• Sealing machines can be used to seal the bags, attractive labels
should be applied to the products.
• The label needs to contain all relevant product and legal information
the name of the product,brand name, details of the manufacturer,
date of the manufacturer, expiry date, weight of the contents, added
ingredients plus any other information that the country of origin and
import may require.

21. Storage
• Dried cloves must be stored in moisture proof container away from
direct sunlight.
• It is essential that the cloves are fully dry before they are stored.any
moisture within the bags will cause the cloves to rot.
• They stored cloves should be inspected regularly for signs of spoilage
for moisture.
• If they have absorbed moisture ,they should be re-dried to a moisture
content of 10%.

22. • The storage room should be clean,dry, Cool, and free from pests.
• Moisture netting should be fitted on the windows to prevent pests
and insects from entering the room.
• Storing smelling foods, detergents and paints should not be stored in
the Same room as they will spoil the aroma and flavor of the clove.

23. Grades
• Cloves hand picked selected
Cloves HPS is the most superior grades of cloves.this grade contains good size
full bud Cloves with beautiful colour this grade contains no headless cloves or
stems Moisture is between 12-13% maximum.
• Clove grade No.1
Cloves No.1 is the second best grade in cloves.this grade is mostly full bud
cloves with small percentage of headless cloves. Moisture is between 12-13%
maximum.
• Cloves FAQ
Cloves FAQ is a mixture of full bud cloves, headless cloves and some stems.

24. The specifications for clove given by the sri Lanka standard institute is as
follows

25. Marketing
• The market for cloves is relatively small,and has been stable over the
past five years.
• Madagascar and Sri Lanka are the biggest suppliers on the European
market, although supplies from developing countries have decreased
on average.

26. Value added products
• The clove is used in a type of cigarette.
• Due to the bioactive chemicals of cloves, the spice may be used as an
anti repellent.
• They can be used to make a fragrance pomander when combined
with an orange. When given as a gift in vectorian England, such a
pomander indicated warmth of feelings

27. Other value added products are
• Tooth pastes
• Chewing gums
• Shaving soaps
• As organic weed killer
• Perfumes
• Insects repellents