Botanical name Syzygium aromaticum L.
Botanical synonym Eugenia caryophyllata Thunb., Eugenia aromatica L.
Family Myrtaceae
Source Dried flower buds
Origin Sri Lanka
Processing Method Steam Distilled
Color/Consistency A clear pale yellow to yellow liquid of medium consistency.
Aromatic Summary / Note / Strength of Aroma A middle note of medium aroma, Clove Bud Essential Oil smells like the actual spice.
Blends With Blends well with other spice oils including Cinnamon Bar, Nutmeg, Citronella, Grapefruit, Lemon, Orange, Peppermint, Rosemary and Rose.
Product Abstract
Indigenous to Indonesia and Madagascar, cloves can be found in nature as the unopened pink flower buds of the evergreen tree.
Picked by hand the buds and flowewrs are dried until they turn brown and, after grinding them, the powder is used in cooking or converted into an essential oil for various medicinal purposes.
Unlike most other spices, cloves can be grown throughout the entire year, which has given native tribes that use it a distinct advantage over other cultures because the health benefits can be enjoyed more readily.
History
Archeologists have found cloves in a ceramic vessel in Syria, with evidence that dates the find to within a few years of 1721 BC. In the third century BC, a Chinese leader in the Han Dynasty required those who addressed him to chew cloves to freshen their breath. Cloves were traded by Muslim sailors and merchants during the Middle Ages in the profitable Indian Ocean trade, the clove trade is also mentioned by Ibn Battula and even famous Arabian Nights characters such as Sinbad the Sailor are known to have bought and sold cloves from India.
Extraction Information
Essential oil from clove buds and flowers with CO2 was explored. The effect of different parameters, such as temperature pressure and particle size on the extraction yield and the content of eugenol in extracts was investigated using three-level orthogonal array design. The experimental results show that the temperature has the largest effect on the eugenol content of the extracts, and particle size has the maximum effect on the oil yield.
Common Usage
Caution
Clove oil is often added in cosmetic creams and lotions, and it is commonly known as a good massage oil that provides relief from pain and stress.
Key constituents
Eugenol 73.5–96.9%
b-Caryophyllene 0.6–12.4%
Eugenyl acetate 0.5–10.7%
a-Caryophyllene 0.4–1.4%
Isoeugenol 0.1–0.2%
Methyleugenol 0–0.2%
Quality Clove bud oil may be adulterated with clove stem or leaf oils, or with eugenol.
Safety summary
Hazards Drug interaction; may contain methyleugenol; may inhibit blood clotting; embryotoxicity; skin sensitization (moderate risk); mucous membrane irritation (moderate risk). Cautions (oral): May interact with pethidine, MAOIs or SSRIs. Anticoagulant medication, major surgery, peptic ulcer, hemophilia, other bleeding disorders.
Cautions (dermal): Hypersensitive, diseased or damaged skin, children under 2 years of age. Maximum dermal use level.
Maximum dermal use level (based on methyleugenol content)
EU 0.1%
IFRA 0.2%
Tisserand & Young 10%
Maximum dermal use level (based on eugenol content)
EU No legal limit
IFRA 0.5%
Tisserand & Young 0.5%
Our safety advice
We recommend a dermal maximum of 0.5% based on 96.9% eugenol content and a limit of 0.5%.
Regulatory guidelines
IFRA recommends a maximum dermal use level for eugenol of 0.5% for most product types, in order to avoid skin sensitization (IFRA 2009). IFRA recommends a maximum dermal use level for isoeugenol of 0.02% in products that will come into contact with the skin (IFRA 2009). IFRA recommends that the maximum concentration of methyleugenol for leave-on products such as body lotion should be 0.0004% (IFRA 2009). The equivalent SCCNFP maximum is 0.0002%
Organ-specific effects
Adverse skin reactions: In a 48 hour occlusive patch test on 50 Italian volunteers, undiluted clove oil produced no adverse reactions. Similarly tested at 1%, it produced one reaction in 380 eczema patients (Meneghini et al 1971). Undiluted clove bud oil was moderately irritating to rabbits, but was not irritating to mice; tested at 5% on 25 volunteers it was neither irritating nor sensitizing. Both isoeugenol and, to a lesser extent, eugenol are potential sensitizing agents. Clove bud oil is non-phototoxic
Clove oil was cytotoxic to skin cells in vitro, at concentrations as low as 0.03%, suggesting a potential for skin irritancy . In closed-patch tests, clove oil caused primary irritation in two out of 25 normal subjects when applied at 20%, but evoked no reaction when tested at 2% on 30 normal subjects, nor when tested at 0.5% on dermatitis patients. In a study of 200 consecutive dermatitis patients, two (1%) were sensitive to 2% clove oil on patch testing . In a prospective study of adverse skin reactions to cosmetic ingredients identified by patch test clove oil was responsible for one case of contact dermatitis of 487 cosmetic-related cases.
Systemic effects
Comments
In spite of the chemical similarity between the three types of clove oil, the odor of each is different.
