The Chemistry of the Portuguese Empire II: Eugenol

This is the second post inspired by the book Napoleon’s Buttons – 17 Molecules that Changed History, by Penny Le Couteur & Jay Burreson.

Myristica fragrans, the nutmeg tree, and Syzygium aromaticum, the clove tree, are precious plants that originally could be found only on the Molucca Islands.

Just as for black pepper, the paramount importance of nutmeg and clove, and the role they had in shaping history, lies in their chemistry. Eugenol in clove and isoeugenol in nutmeg are two aromatic molecules very similar in structure and with a smell close to that of ginger. They only differ in a double bond position (in red in the figure).

Produced by the plants for protection against animal grazing, insects eating and microorganisms’ infections, these substances full of aroma have been used for centuries in traditional medicine as analgesic, antiseptic and to treat a series of diseases.

These spices were traded for centuries by Chinese, Malay, and Arab merchants, arriving in Europe after a lengthy route along which their price and value increased constantly. They were a major reason for Afonso de Albuquerque to conquer Ceylon and Malacca in 1511, while he looked for indications on how to reach the Banda Island and other spice locations. Venetian merchants were quickly ruled out from the spice commerce between the Moluccas and Europe.

In the 17th century, the Dutch replaced the Portuguese in the control of clove and nutmeg trade. Curiously, it was the Dutch botanist Maartyn Houttuyn who described and gave the scientific name Myristica fragrans to the nutmeg plant in 1774.

The Dutch tried to protect their monopoly as hard as they could, but eventually clove cultivation started in the French colony of Mauritius and then spread along the East African coast. Nutmeg cultivation, on the other hand, proved more difficult to export, since the plant requires specific soil characteristics and climatic conditions. However, tropical areas provided suitable conditions and today Grenada in the Caribbean is the major producer of the spice. [Silvana Munzi]