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PIMENTO

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Originally appearing in Volume V21, Page 615 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PIMENTO , also called ALLSPICE (from a supposed See also:

combination of various flavours) and See also:JAMAICA See also:PEPPER, the dried immature See also:fruit of Eugenia pimenta or Pimenta officinalis, an See also:evergreen See also:tree about 30 ft. high, belonging to the natural See also:order Myrtaceae. It is indigenous in the See also:West See also:India Islands, growing on See also:limestone hills near the See also:sea, and is especially grown in Jamaica. The spice derives its name from the Portuguese pimenta, See also:Spanish pimienta, pepper, which was given to it from its _resemblance to 21 pepper-corns. The berries are gathered in See also:July and See also:August, when of full See also:size, but still unripe--the small branches bearing fruit being broken off and dried in the See also:sun and See also:air for some days, when the stalks are removed and the berries are ready for packing. These owe their aromatic properties to an essential oil See also:present to the extent of 3 to 41% and consisting largely of See also:eugenol or allyl guaiacol, HO(CH3O)C6H3•See also:C3H5. The See also:chief use of pimento is as a spice. The oil, the See also:action of which resembles that of See also:cloves, is occasionally used in See also:medicine, and is also employed in perfuming soaps. The " See also:bay See also:rum " used as a See also:toilet See also:article is a See also:tincture scented with the oil of the leaves of an allied See also:species, Pimenta acris, commonly known as the bayberry tree.

End of Article: PIMENTO

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