DEAS 918: 2017  
ICS 67.220.10  
 
© EAC 2017                                                                                                                               First Edition 2017  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Cloves  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 918: 2017  
ii © EAC  2017  – All rights reserved  
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Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 918: 2017  
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated b y the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States , together with the representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer g roups, private sector and other interested parties. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standar ds, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedures for development of East African Standards. XXXXXX.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to en sure that they always have the latest versions of the standards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible for this docu ment is Technical Committee EASC /TC 006, Spices culinary herbs 
and condiments . 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of  the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 918: 2017  
 
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved  1 
 Cloves  — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies  the requirements and methods of s ampling and test for cloves . 
2 Normative references   
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes 
requirements of this document.  For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For un dated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
CODEX STAN 193, General standard for contaminants and toxins in food and feed  
EAS 38, Labelling of pre -packaged foods — Specification  
EAS 39, Hygiene in th e food and drink industry — Code of practice  
EAS 99, Spices and condiments — Nomenclature   
ISO 948,  Spices and condiments — Sampling   
ISO 928, Spices and condiments — Determination of total ash  
ISO 939, Spices and condiments — Determination of moisture con tent Entrainment method  
ISO 4833 -1, Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the enumeration of micro -organisms — 
Part 1: Colony -count at 30 degrees C — Pour plate technique  
ISO 6571, Spices and condiments — Determination of volatile oil cont ent (hydrodistillation method)  
ISO 6579 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Part 6: Horizontal method for the detection of 
Salmonella spp.   
ISO 7251,  Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — Horizontal method for the detection and 
enumeration of presumptive Escherichia coli — Most probable number technique  
ISO 7954 , Microbiology of food and animal feeding stuffs — General guidance for enumeration of yeasts and 
moulds — Part 8: Colony count technique at 25 degrees C  
ISO 16050 , Foodstuff s — Determination of aflatoxin B1, and the total content of aflatoxins B1, B2, G1 and G2 
in cereals, nuts and derived products  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in EAS 99  and the following apply.  DEAS 918: 2017  
2 © EAC  2017  – All rights reserved  
 3.1 
whole clove  
a floral bud, harvested before blooming, and dried of Syzygium aromaticum  (L.) Merril & Perry. It comprises of 
a receptacle containing, in its upper part, two loculi containing numerous ovules, and crowned by four acute 
divergent sepals surr ounding a dome -shaped head consisting of four paler unexpanded membranous 
imbricate petals enclosing numerous incurved stamens and single stiff erect style ( see Annex A ). 
3.2 
headless clove  
clove  consisting of only the receptacles and sepals and which has lost the  dome -shaped head (see Annex 
A). 
3.3 
mother clove  
fruits of the cloves which are in the form of an ovoid brown berries surmounted by four incurved sepals. These 
vary in length from 20 mm to 25 mm and in breadth from 5mm to 9mm (see Annex A ). 
3.4 
khoker clove  
clove which have undergone fermentation, resulting from improper drying. They may be recognized by their 
pale brown colour, whitish meaty appearance and often having wrinkled surface.   
3.5 
clove stem  
is dry fragment of stalk of the clove (se e Annex A ). 
3.6 
extraneous matter  
includes dust, dirt, stones, clay particles and pieces of wood, all particles originating from the plant other than 
the cloves, tendrils, peduncles and exhausted cloves.  
4 Requirements   
4.1 General  requirements  
4.1.1  Whol e cloves shall be the dried flower buds  of Syzygium aromaticum  (L.) Merril & Perry, harvested 
before they have opened.  
4.1.2 The whole clove should be fully grown and of a reddish brown to blackish brown colour.  
4.1.3  Ground cloves shall be of brown colou r with violet tinge and shall possess the odour and taste of the 
ground spice.   
4.1.4 The cloves shall have a strong aromatic spicy flavour. They shall be free from mustiness.  
4.1.5 The cloves, whole or ground, shall be free from moulds, and shall be pract ically free from insects, insect 
fragments and rodent contamination   
4.2 Specific  quality requirements  
4.2.1 Whole cloves  
The whole cloves shall comply with the requirements specified  in Table 1. DEAS 918: 2017  
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved  3 
 Table 1 — Chemical requirements for whole cloves  
S/No.  Chara cteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i)  Moisture, % m/m, max . 12 ISO 939  
ii)  Volatile oil, % ml/100g on dry basis, min. for 
special and standard quality grade  17 ISO 6571  
iii)  Volatile oil, % ml/100g on dry basis, min. for 
distillation quality  15 ISO 6571  
 
4.2.2 Ground cloves  
The ground cloves shall comply with the requirements given in Table 2.  
Table 2 — Chemical requirements for ground  cloves  
S/No.  Characteristic  Requirement  Test method  
i)  Moisture, % m/m, max . 10 ISO 939  
ii)  Crude fibre, % m/m, on dry basis, max.  13 Annex A  
iii)  Total ash, % (mass fraction) on dry basis, max  7 ISO 928  
iv)  Acid insoluble ash, % (mass fraction) on dry 
basis, max.  0.5 ISO 930  
v)  Volatile oil, % (mass fraction) on dry basis, min  15 ISO 6571  
5 Grades  of whole cloves  
Whole cloves shall be grad ed according to the criteria given in Table 3 . 
Table 3 — Requirements for grades of whole cloves  
 
S/No.  Grade 
designation  Headless 
cloves, %m/m, 
max.  Tendrils, 
mother 
cloves, 
%m/m, 
max.  Khoker 
cloves %, 
m/m, max . Extreneous 
matter, %, 
m/m, max . 
i)  Special q uality  2 0.5 0.5 0.5 
ii)  Standard 
quality  5 4 3 1 
iii)  Distillation 
quality  Not specified  6 20 1 
6 Food additives  
Cloves  shall be free from added colouring matter , flavour  and preservatives.  DEAS 918: 2017  
4 © EAC  2017  – All rights reserved  
 7 Contaminants  
7.1 Pesticide  residues  
Pesticide residues in cloves  shall not exceed maximum residue limit as established by the Codex  Online 
Guideline  for pesticide residue in food.  
7.2 Heavy  metal  
Heavy metals in cloves  shall not exceed maximum residue limit as stipulated in Codex Stan 193.  
7.3 Aflatoxin  limits . 
Total afla toxin shall not exceed 10 µg/L and aflatoxin B 1 shall not exceed 5 µg/L when tested with ISO 16050  
8 Hygiene   
Cloves shall be processed and handled in a hygienic manner in accordance with EAS 39 and shall conform to 
the microbiological limits stipulated in  Table 4.  
Table 4 — Microbiological limits for cloves  
S/No.  Organism  Limit  Test method  
i) Total plate count, cfu/mL, max.  1*103 ISO 4833 -1 
ii) Yeast and mould cfu/g, max.  1*102 ISO 7954  
iii) Salmonella spp. per 25 g, max.  Absent  ISO 6579  
iv) Escherichi a coli  MPN/g, max.  Absent  ISO 7251  
9 Weight s and measures  
The weight and fill of cloves shall comply with the weights and measures regulations of Partner States or 
equivalent legislation.  
10 Packaging   
Whole or ground cloves shall be packed in clean and s ound food grade containers, made of material which 
does not affect the product and protects it from moisture and loss of volatile matter.  
11 Labelling  
In addition to the requirements of EAS 38, the following specific labelling requirements shall apply and shall be 
legibly and indelibly marked:  
a) Common name of the product ; 
b) Brand name or trade name if any;  
c) name, physical location and address of manufacturer;  
d) grade of the material; ; DEAS 918: 2017  
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved  5 
 e) net weight;  
f) date of manufacture/packing ; 
g) year of harvest, if applicable;  
h) batch  identification number/code;  
i) best before;  
j) country of origin; and  
k) storage condition.  
12 Sampling  
Sampling of cloves  shall be done in accordance with ISO 948 . DEAS 918: 2017  
6 © EAC  2017  – All rights reserved  
 Annex  A 
(normative)  
 
Pictorial presentation of cloves parts  
 
 
        
  
Figure 1 — Whole clove      Figure 2 — Headless clove  
 
 
 
 
 
       
  
Figure 3 — Mother clove     Figure 4 — Clove stems  
 DEAS 918: 2017  
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved  7 
 Annex  B 
(normative)  
 
Determination of crude fibre  
B.1 Reagents  
B.1.1  Petroleum ether:   
B.1.2  Dilute sulphuric a cid: 1.25 % (m/v) accurately prepared.  
B1.3  Sodium hydroxide solution: 1.25 % (m/v) accurately prepared.  
B.1.4  Ethanol: 95 % (v/v) 
B.2 Procedure:  
Weigh accurately about 2.5 g of the ground material into a thimble and extract for about 1 hour with petrol eum 
ether using a Soxhlet apparatus. Transfer the material in the thimble to a one -litre flask. Take 200 ml of the 
dilute sulphuric acid in a beaker and bring to boil. Transfer the whole of the boiling acid to the flask containing 
the fat -free material and  immediately connect the flask with a water -cooled reflux condenser and heat so that 
the contents of the flask begin to boil within 1 minute. Rotate the flask frequently taking care to keep the 
material from remaining on the sides of the flask and out of c ontact with the acid. Continue boiling for exactly 
30 minutes. Remove the flask and filter through fine linen (about 18 thread to the centimetre) or through a 
coarse acid washed hardened filter paper, held in a funnel  and wash with boiling water until the  washings are 
no longer acidic to litmus paper. Bring some quantity of sodium hydroxide solution to boil under reflux 
condenser. Wash the residues on the filter into the flask with 200 ml of boiling sodium hydroxide solution. 
Immediately connect the flask with the reflux condenser and boil for exactly 30 minutes. Remove the flask and  
immediately filter through the linen or the filter paper.  
Thoroughly wash the residue with boiling water and transfer to a Gooch crucible prepared with a thin but 
compact layer  of ignite asbestos. Wash the residue thoroughly first with hot water and then with about 15 
ml of ethyl alcohol and with three successive washings of 15 ml of petroleum ether each.  Dry the Gooch 
crucible and contents at 105 ± 1  oC in an air -oven for 3 ho urs, cool and weigh. Repeat the process of drying 
for 30 minutes, cooling and weighing until the dif ference between two consecutive weighings is less than 1 
mg. Incinerate the contents of the Gooch crucible in the muffle furnace at 550 ±20 oC until all th e 
carbonaceous matter is burnt. Cool the Gooch crucible containing the ash in a desiccator  and weigh.  
B.3 Calculation   
Crude fibre (on dry basis), percent by mass  
    = 100 (M1 – M2) *  100  
                    M        (100 -H) 
Where:   M 1 = mass in g of  Gooch crucible and contents before ashing,  
               M2 = mass in g of Gooch crucible containing asbestos and ash,  
               M = mass in g of the material taken for the test  
              H= moisture content of the sample as received  DEAS 918: 2017    
 
© EAC 2017  – All rights reserved