Allspice is mostly used as a spice, but it does have a history of traditional and folk medicinal uses. Some uses of the herb as herbal medicine have, to a certain degree, been substantiated by scientific methods but more and thorough studies are needed to rate the herb’s effectiveness fully. The herb is regarded to have carminative, digestive stimulant, and aromatic qualities. Its active constituents are anti-inflammatory, rubefacient (warming and soothing) and anti-flatulent.
Allspice is used as a traditional herbal remedy for treating flatulence and indigestion because its volatile oils contain eugenol, a weak antimicrobial agent. It suppresses the activity of prostaglandins in human colonic tissue and stimulates some digestive enzymes, including trypsin, an enzyme necessary for the digestion of protein.
The dried berries are used far more as a spice than herbal medicine. Allspice has a rich, pleasant and warm aroma, and as a spice, it is used in many kinds of ketchup, pickles, desserts, sauces, and soups, often as a less expensive substitute for cloves. Also, it is used in marination of herrings, in sausage making and baking. Allspice enhances the flavor of pineapples, plums, black currants, and apples and fits well together with chili, cloves, coriander, garlic, ginger, nutmeg, mustard, pepper, rosemary, and thyme.
Each berry has two hard, dark-brown, reniform seeds. Seeds are about the size of a peppercorn. Whole fruits have a longer shelf life than the powdered product and produce a more aromatic product when recently ground before use.
Nutritional value of Spices, allspice, ground
Serving Size: 100 g
Calories 263 Kcal. Calories from Fat 78.21 Kcal.
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