Whole Cloves and Ground Cloves in Sri Lanka
Clove is an ancient and valuable spice in international trade. In Sri Lanka, we primarily produce dried whole buds or powdered cloves.
The major products of the tree are the buds, the stem, and distilled oil. Furthermore, this is an aromatic, unopened flower bud in appearance.
This is another commercial spice in Sri Lanka. It is also a medium-sized tree with smooth and aromatic grey bark.
Further, the middle of the country produces the best quality cloves in Sri Lanka. Therefore, we identify the main growing areas in the wet zone as the Kandy, Kegalle, and Matale areas.
In addition, ground cloves are used for cooking as curry mixtures. And, clove oil (Clove essential oils) is used for flavoring foods and in perfumery industries.
Therefore, we mainly use clove in its whole or ground form as well as as an essential oil.
Clove Production
Clove production is based on seeds. The seeds obtained by removing the outer pulp show early and uniform tree ripening.
The fresh clove buds are harvested when flower petals change their color. It turns from olive green to a yellow-pink when harvested. Clusters of flowers are harvested together with the stalks.
Furthermore, the harvesting season in Sri Lanka usually commences in December and extends up to the end of April.
The flower buds should detach from the stalks soon after harvest. Both buds and stalks are dried by the sun or an electric dryer until they become dark brown in color with a hard texture.
In addition, well-dried, good-quality cloves are golden brown in color. Poorly dried cloves show soft and pale brown with a whitish-mealy appearance. We, at Acril Tea, use a natural sun-dry method to produce high-quality cloves.
Further, we maintain an 8–10% moisture level and pack in gunny bags/sacks without fungal and insect damage.
In good quality packaging, you can keep them for 1 to 2 years.