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Herb library · Herb · Pimenta dioica

Allspice (pimento)

The dried unripe berry of a Caribbean evergreen tree, named allspice because it tastes like several spices at once. It is mainly a food spice; the medicinal properties claimed for it come from lab and animal studies, not trials in people.

Traditional use

A Caribbean tree that Europeans first met in Jamaica on the voyages of Columbus, used as a food spice, in perfumes, as a natural pesticide and in folk medicine. Jamaica's colonial-era botanists called it pimento or Jamaica pepper. A 2012 review lists antibacterial, blood-pressure-lowering and pain-relieving properties found in the lab.

What studies show

No studies in people of this herb on its own yet. What is known of it comes from the traditions that use it.

  • Insufficient

    Pain, blood pressure, infections and cancer: compounds from the berries and leaves (such as eugenol) show effects in lab and animal studies. No clinical trial in people was found in the sources reviewed here.

Be careful of

Cautions

  • AllergyA 2022 case report describes a severe allergic reaction to allspice, which can be a hidden ingredient in spice blends and prepared foods.
  • PregnancyNo safety information for medicinal amounts in pregnancy or breastfeeding was found in the sources used here. Talk with your clinician before taking more than cooking amounts.
  • Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.

From the old books

What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.

“It is also called all-spice, from its taste and flavour being supposed to resemble those of many different spices mixed together.”
John Lunan, Hortus Jamaicensis (1814), vol. 2, p. 69. See the page of Hortus Jamaicensis, vol. 2, p. 69 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from Hortus Jamaicensis, vol. 2, p. 69
“Pimenta can scarcely be considered as a medicine; it is, however, an agreeable aromatic, and, on this account, is not unfrequently employed with different drugs, requiring such a grateful adjunct.”
John Lunan, Hortus Jamaicensis (1814), vol. 2, p. 69. See the page of Hortus Jamaicensis, vol. 2, p. 69 (opens in a new tab) · Read the full passage from Hortus Jamaicensis, vol. 2, p. 69

Sources

  1. Medicinal properties of the Jamaican pepper plant Pimenta dioica and Allspice (Curr Drug Targets, 2012) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026
  2. Severe allergic reaction to allspice, a hidden food allergen (Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol, 2022) — PubMed record (opens in a new tab) · NIH · read September 25, 2026

Reviewed September 25, 2026.