Whole spice · Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & L.M.Perry
Specification and grades
Clove is a hand-harvested crop: the unopened flower bud is picked before it blooms, then sun-dried until it takes its dark brown colour. India grows a small but genuinely high-oil crop in the Western Ghats and the far south, and the value sits almost entirely in volatile oil and in how clean the lot is of stems and headless buds. We buy hand-picked selected material, screen it again before packing, and quote against a declared oil minimum confirmed on a third-party certificate of analysis.
- Botanical name
- Syzygium aromaticum
- HS code (whole)
- 09071010
- Volatile oil
- ≥ 14 ml/100 g (declared per lot)
- Stems
- ≤ 5% by weight
Grades offered
- Hand-picked selected (HPS)
- Grade 1 / garbled
- Ungarbled
| Grade | Character & typical use | Key value |
|---|---|---|
| Hand-picked selected (HPS) | Uniform, plump buds with the head intact, hand-sorted. The premium grade for whole-spice retail. | ≥ 16 ml/100 g |
| Grade 1 / garbled | Screened and de-stemmed to commercial limits. The standard grade for grinding and blending. | ≥ 14 ml/100 g |
| Ungarbled | As received from the grower, stems and headless buds not removed. For extraction, where only oil matters. | ≥ 13 ml/100 g |
Technical
Typical export specification
These are the parameters we contract against. Every consignment ships with a pre-shipment certificate of analysis from an NABL-accredited laboratory, and we will work to a tighter buyer specification where your process demands it.
| Parameter | Specification | Method |
|---|---|---|
| Moisture | ≤ 12.0% | IS 1797 / AOAC |
| Volatile oil | As per grade, 13–18 ml/100 g | ASTA 5.0 |
| Stems | ≤ 5.0% (HPS ≤ 2.0%) | ASTA 14.0 |
| Headless cloves | ≤ 5.0% | Visual / ASTA 14.0 |
| Total ash (dry basis) | ≤ 7.0% | AOAC 941.12 |
| Acid insoluble ash | ≤ 0.5% | AOAC 941.12 |
| Foreign matter | ≤ 0.5% | ASTA 14.0 |
| Lead / heavy metals | Within Codex & EU 2023/915 limits | ICP-MS |
| Total plate count | ≤ 10⁵ cfu/g (untreated) · ≤ 10⁴ cfu/g (steam sterilised) | ISO 4833 |
| Salmonella | Absent in 25 g | ISO 6579 |
| Pesticide residues | Within EU MRLs, Regulation (EC) 396/2005 | LC-MS/MS & GC-MS/MS |