Allspice, pimento or Jamaica pepper
Family Myrtaceae
Pimenta dioica (= Pimenta officinalis), allspice, pimento or Jamaica pepper (P. dioica 1), is a small evergreen tree, 7-10 m tall, with aromatic elliptic leaves and greenish-white flowers, 8-10 cm long, in many flowered cymes; each flower with numerous stamens and an inferior ovary. The fruit is a globose berry, 5-6 mm across (P. dioica 2), dark purple when ripe. Berries and leaves contain essential oils, of which eugenol is the most important.
Distribution
Allspice is a native of the West Indies and Central America. The Spanish explorers looking for the source of pepper during the late 15th century mistook allspice for it, hence the name pimento, which is derived from the Spanish word pimienta for pepper. As a spice it reached Europe early in the 17th century. Later it was taken to Sri Lanka and Singapore, but with little success.
Use
The sun-dried unripe fruits provide the spice, which is considered to combine flavours of other spices like cinnamon, cloves and nutmegs; hence the name allspice. It is used in pickles, ketchup, sausages and gingerbread. Pimento oil, extracted from the seeds and leaves, is used in perfumes and as a source of eugenol.
Jamaica is the only large producer of allspice and exports mainly to Germany, the UK and US.