The health benefits of clove oil

Clove oil is often used for treating a variety of health disorders including toothaches, indigestion, cough, asthma, headache, stress and blood impurities.

It is a natural analgesic and antiseptic used primarily in dentistry for its main ingredient eugenol. Clove oil can also be purchased in pharmacies over the counter, as a home remedy for dental pain relief, mainly toothache; it is also often found in thearomatherapy section of health food stores.

Clove oil can be used in many things from flavouring medicine to remedies for bronchitis, the common cold, a cough, fever, sore throat and tending to infections.

The main Clove oil producing countries are Madagascar and Indonesia.

There are three types of clove oil:

• Bud oil is derived form the flower-buds of S. aromaticum. It consists of 60–90% eugenol, eugenyl acetate, caryophyllene and other minor constituents.
• Leaf oil is derived from the leaves of S. aromaticum. It consists of 82–88% eugenol with little or no eugenyl acetate, and minor constituents.
• Stem oil is derived from the twigs of S. aromaticum. It consists of 90–95% eugenol, with other minor constituents.