Allspice Berry or Pimenta officinalis ( or Pimento )

Structure / Morphology :
Allspice or Pimenta officinalisis the single berry with a flavor reminiscent of Cloves, Cinnamon, and a hint of Nutmeg. The Allspice Berries are dried and grow on the pimento tree. Commonly called "allspice berries" as they are said to combine the taste and aroma of several other spices such as cloves, pepper, nutmeg, ginger and cinnamon.Allspice trees can grow up to forty feet high and they produce 5 to 10 kilograms of dried berries per year.

Occurrence  :
The pimento tree is indigenous to the Caribbean Islands and is also consider to be the only spice which is grown solely in the western hemisphere part. The pimento tree was first found in Jamaica around the year 1500. It has been cultivated ever since. The tree was discovered by Spanish explorers who named the such tree according to the Spanish word "pimenta" meaning peppercorn.

Uses :

• Allspice Berries or Pimento berries extensively used in Jamaican cooking and give food a distinctive Jamaican flavour. 
• These are an important ingredient for Jamaican favourites such as escoveitched fish and jerk chicken.
• Essential oils can be extracted from the berries. These oils have been used as flavourings and as ingredients for colognes.
• Whole allspice is used in stocks,  when poaching fish, vegetables, fruit,  pickles, and for baking.  Ground, 
• These are found in spice cakes puddings, cookies and gravies. 
• Allspice can be an interesting spice in barbecuing.
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Medical Uses : 

• Arthritis, muscle tone, stiffness, rheumatism, muscular and gastric cramps, indigestion, nausea, depression, nervous tension/exhaustion, neuralgia, coughs, bronchitis.(1)

• Allspice Essential Oil's high Eugenol (a phenol) content suggests that Allspice may act as an anti-viral oil.

Reference :

•   [Julia Lawless, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils (Rockport, MA: Element Books, 1995), 60-65, 194.]