Clove (Syzygium aromaticum)
A warm, spicy single oil steam-distilled from clove buds, best known as a key component of Young Living's Thieves blend.
How to use it
2–3 drops in a spice-forward blend — it's strong and can dominate.
A hot oil — dilute to 1% or less in a carrier oil and patch-test first.
Safety in detail
- Max dermal use
- ~0.5% on skin (eugenol is a strong sensitiser)
- Phototoxic
- No
- Very high in eugenol, a potent skin and mucous-membrane irritant — dilute heavily (around 0.5%) and never apply neat.
- Do not apply undiluted to gums or inside the mouth despite folk 'toothache' use.
- Not phototoxic. Keep well out of reach of children.
Composition & chemistry
Aggregated from 19 GC-MS samples across 13 peer-reviewed open-access studies (2023–2026). Figures are the distribution across those samples — median with interquartile range — not a single reading.
- Phenylpropanoid / aromatic 83.7%
- Sesquiterpene hydrocarbon 15.3%
- Oxygenated sesquiterpene 0.5%
- Unclassified 0.4%
| Constituent | Median | Typical range | Max | Detected in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| eugenol ↗ C10H12O2 | 71.5% | 41.4–76.5% | 89.3% | |
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| β-caryophyllene ↗ C15H24 | 11.6% | 6.9–14.2% | 20.2% | |
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| α-humulene ↗ C15H24 | 1.6% | 0.9–2.5% | 3.8% | |
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| caryophyllene oxide ↗ C15H24O | 0.6% | 0.3–0.9% | 5.4% | |
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+ 28 more compounds reported across the dataset.
13 peer-reviewed sources behind these figures
- EFSA Panel on Additives and Products or Substances used in Animal Feed (FEEDAP), Bampidis V, Azimonti G, Bastos ML, Christensen H, Durjava M, Kouba M, López-Alonso M, López Puente S, Marcon F, Mayo B, Pechová A, Petkova M, Ramos F, Ramos F, Sanz Y, Villa RE, Woutersen R, Brantom P, Chesson A, Schlatter J, Westendorf J, Dirven Y, Manini P, Dusemund B. (2023). Safety and efficacy of feed additives consisting of essential oils derived from the flower buds or the leaves of Syzygium aromaticum (L.) Merr. & L.M. Perry (clove bud oil and clove leaf oils) for all animal species (FEFANA asbl). EFSA journal. European Food Safety Authority.
- Hammal A, Al-Duihi HA. (2026). Preparation of clove extract-loaded nano-hydroxyapatite for combating dental caries-associated microbes. The Saudi dental journal.
- Abdel-Ghany HSM, Ayoob F, Elsawy BSM, Alzan HF, Youssef AA, Abdel-Shafy S. (2026). Acaricidal and synergistic activity of essential oils, their binary combinations, and nanoemulsions against larvae and unfed adult stages of brown dog tick Rhipicephalus sanguineus (Acari: Ixodidae). BMC veterinary research.
- Elwakil BH, Shaaban MM, Bakr BA, Hamed MT, Raj Paudel K, Atia AM, Zakaria M. (2026). Novel eugenol/limonene nanoplatform as a new remedy against bacterial lung infections. Scientific reports.
- Reyes Pérez FD, Peralta-Ruiz Y, Carrascal-Hernández DC, Delgado-Ospina J, Chaves-López C, Grande-Tovar CD. (2026). Synergistic Coatings Based on Chitosan and <i>Eugenia caryophyllata</i> Essential Oil to Improve Postharvest Quality of <i>Capsicum chinense</i>. Polymers.
- Önder NT, Çakmak SS, Aktar A, Başer L, Gökdemir S, Aydın A, Tereci U, Çakmak İ, Alçay S. (2026). Effect of clove oil (Eugenia Caryophyllus) on drone semen quality after cryopreservation. BMC veterinary research.
- Rahim N, Derabli C, Bramki A, Mahdjoub S, Rup-Jacques S, Rup-Jacques S, Barboucha G, Hesse S, Boulebd H. (2025). Evaluating the multifaceted bioactivity of <i>Syzygium aromaticum</i> essential oil: the central role of eugenol. Turkish journal of biology = Turk biyoloji dergisi.
- Wadi MA. (2025). Evaluation of antibacterial activity and chemical analysis of clove aqueous extract (Syzygium aromaticum). BMC complementary medicine and therapies.
- Abdelmuhsin AA, Sulieman AME, Salih ZA, Al-Azmi M, Alanaizi NA, Goniem AE, Alam MJ. (2025). Clove (<i>Syzygium aromaticum</i>) Pods: Revealing Their Antioxidant Potential via GC-MS Analysis and Computational Insights. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland).
- Giménez-Santamarina S, Torres-Pagan N, Larran S, Roselló J, Santamarina MP. (2025). Clove Essential Oil and Eugenol as Natural Antifungal Agents to Reduce Postharvest Losses in Melon (<i>Cucumis melo</i>). International journal of molecular sciences.
- Refaey MS, A A Fayed M, Kutkat O, Moatasim Y, Sameh Tolba N, Anis A, Elshorbagy AM, Nassar K, A M Abouzid K, A M M Elshaier Y, El-Badawy MF. (2023). Bio-guided chemical characterization and nano-formulation studies of selected edible volatile oils with potentials antibacterial and anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities. Arabian journal of chemistry.
- Thoma JL, Cantrell CL, Tamang P, Zheljazkov VD. (2023). Determining the optimum mixture of three essential oils for potato sprout suppression at room temperature storage. Frontiers in plant science.
- Iwiński H, Różański H, Pachura N, Wojciechowska A, Gębarowski T, Szumny A. (2023). In Vitro Evaluation of Antiprotozoal Properties, Cytotoxicity Effect and Anticancer Activity of New Essential-Oil Based Phytoncide Mixtures. Molecules (Basel, Switzerland).
Every figure above traces to a named table in one of these open-access papers. How this was built →
- Eugenol — the dominant phenol; carries clove's warm-spicy scent and its studied antimicrobial/antioxidant activity — and its skin-sensitising potential Haro-González et al. (2023), Molecules
The Dutch East India Company once burned entire clove groves to keep prices high.
What the research says
An honest read of the published research — what has actually been studied, at what stage. Not medical advice or a promise of results.
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Clove oil and its main constituent eugenol have been studied for antioxidant and antimicrobial activity in the laboratory. These are in-vitro findings about the oil, not clinical proof of benefit.
Haro-González et al. (2023), Molecules
Evidence & sources
Peer-reviewed research on Clove's chemistry and safety. These describe composition and documented effects — not health or treatment claims.
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Clove bud oil is dominated by eugenol — typically around 80% — with eugenyl acetate and β-caryophyllene making up most of the rest.
Haro-González et al. (2023), Molecules
Frequently asked questions
Can I put clove oil directly on a sore tooth?
It's a traditional remedy, but neat clove oil is a strong irritant to gums and mucous membranes and can damage soft tissue. Don't apply it undiluted, and see a dentist for a genuine toothache. Haro-González et al. (2023), Molecules
Why does clove need so much dilution?
It's about 80% eugenol, one of the more sensitising essential-oil constituents. Diluting to roughly 0.5% in a carrier oil keeps skin use much safer. Haro-González et al. (2023), Molecules
Is clove oil phototoxic?
No — clove isn't a citrus oil and isn't phototoxic. The main precaution is its strong eugenol content, which calls for heavy dilution.
Gallery
The Plant and Its History
Clove is the dried, unopened flower bud of Syzygium aromaticum, native to the Maluku Islands (“Spice Islands”) of Indonesia. Few spices have shaped world history quite like clove — European powers fought over its trade for centuries, and the Dutch East India Company at one point controlled supply so tightly that it burned entire clove groves outside its approved territories to keep prices high. Clove has also been chewed or used medicinally in traditional Chinese medicine for millennia, valued long before its dominant compound, eugenol, was chemically identified.
Extraction and Aroma
Steam distillation of the dried flower buds produces an intensely warm, spicy aroma that’s instantly recognizable from baked goods, mulled drinks, and holiday-spiced desserts. Eugenol dominates the profile, giving clove its heat and the faint numbing sensation familiar to anyone who’s bitten into a whole clove by mistake. It’s one of the five oils in Young Living’s Thieves blend, alongside cinnamon bark, and a common ingredient across the wider Thieves product line.
In the Diffuser
2–3 drops mixed into a spice-forward blend is plenty — clove is strong and can dominate a diffuser blend if overused, quickly overwhelming softer oils around it.
On Skin
Clove is a genuine hot oil and can irritate skin even at moderate dilution. Keep topical use to 1% or less in a carrier oil, and always patch-test on a small area before wider application.
Culinary Note
Clove Vitality is the food-grade counterpart of this same oil, labeled for internal use in recipes per bottle directions — the standard bottle here is intended for aromatic and topical use only.
Found in these blends
Clove is one of the oils inside 11 Young Living blends.