Kanniyakumari Clove

Kanniyakumari Clove is the clove spice grown in the hill tracts of Kanniyakumari district at the southern tip of the Western Ghats, prized for its exceptionally high content of volatile oil and eugenol. Cloves are the dried unopened flower buds of the clove tree, hand-picked when they turn from green to pink and then sun-dried to the familiar dark brown, and the district's cool, high-rainfall hills give buds that are plump and richly aromatic. Grown often as an intercrop in the region's spice and rubber gardens, the clove benefits from the shaded, humid microclimate of the southern hills. Its strong aroma and high oil content make it valuable for cooking, flavouring, perfumery and traditional medicine, where clove oil is widely used. The crop adds an important cash income for smallholder spice growers and forms part of Kanniyakumari's rich hill-spice heritage.