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Ayurveda · Traditional Chinese medicine · Western herbalism

CloveSyzygium aromaticum

Warming spice used in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine for nausea and cold stomach pain. We found no human gut trial; 10 ml of the oil caused liver failure in a toddler.

Botanical name
Syzygium aromaticum
Part used
dried flower bud
Also called
Sanskrit Lavanga; Hindi Laung; pinyin Ding xiang (丁香); Eugenia caryophyllata (older botanical name), Caryophylli flos (pharmacopoeia name)
Used in
Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese medicine, Western herbalism
Taken for
Nausea, Indigestion, Gas, Antimicrobial use
Sold as
capsules, powder, tea, fresh, tincture

What is meant by clove

Clove is the dried, unopened flower bud of Syzygium aromaticum, a tropical evergreen tree of the myrtle family. Cortés-Rojas and colleagues describe it as a valuable spice used for centuries as a food preservative and for many medicinal purposes, native to Indonesia and now grown in other countries including Brazil. The buds look like small brown nails with a ball on top and are very aromatic.

Whole buds are used in cooking and chewed, ground into powder, steeped in tea, or distilled into clove oil. Supplements are mostly capsules of ground bud or a standardized extract, or the concentrated oil. The oil is far stronger than the bud, and the two should not be confused: the safety record of a spice in cooking says little about the oil.

The principal compound is eugenol, which gives clove its smell. In the gut, clove appears in antimicrobial and parasite-cleanse blends and in traditional carminative formulas. Batiha and colleagues state that eugenyl acetate, eugenol and beta-caryophyllene are the most significant constituents of clove oil.

In the traditions

Ayurveda (about Ayurveda)

In Ayurveda clove is lavanga. One text cited by the Wisdom Library calls it fragrant, bitter, pungent and cold in potency, a plant that pacifies the pitta and kapha humors and restores vata to its normal course. The Bhojanakutuhala lists clove among the substances taken after a meal to ease the aggravated phlegm that can weaken the digestive fire, and another passage includes it in a list of remedies for indigestion. Popular Ayurvedic sources disagree about whether clove is heating or cooling, so we do not state one.

Traditional Chinese medicine (about TCM)

In Traditional Chinese Medicine clove (ding xiang) is classed as pungent and warm and as entering the Spleen, Stomach, Lung and Kidney channels, according to the Hong Kong Polytechnic University herb database. Its functions are listed as warming the middle (the digestive center), checking the upward rebellion of stomach qi (the stomach’s downward movement failing, which the tradition links to hiccups and vomiting), and restoring kidney yang. Its listed indications are hiccups, vomiting, poor appetite, diarrhea, and stomach or abdominal pain with a cold sensation from what the texts call spleen and stomach cold deficiency. The database lists it as incompatible with Radix Curcumae (yu jin).

Western herbalism

Batiha and colleagues report that cloves are used in Indian and Chinese traditional medicine as a warming and stimulating agent, and have been used for centuries against vomiting, flatulence, nausea, and liver, bowel and stomach disorders. The EU herbal committee (HMPC) decided that no EU herbal monograph on clove flower will be established unless new data are provided, citing the absence of single-ingredient products on the EU market and a low priority.

What the plant contains

Clove is rich in phenolic compounds. Cortés-Rojas and colleagues name eugenol, eugenol acetate and gallic acid, and report that the antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of clove is higher than many fruits, vegetables and spices in the laboratory. Batiha and colleagues review laboratory and animal work in which eugenol was lethal to parasites including Giardia lamblia, Fasciola gigantica, Haemonchus contortus and Schistosoma mansoni, inhibited a range of bacteria and fungi, and protected the liver against carbon tetrachloride in animals. All of this is laboratory or animal work, and none of it shows that clove clears a parasite from a human gut.

What has been tested in people

We searched PubMed for controlled human trials of clove or Syzygium aromaticum for nausea, indigestion, gas, diarrhea, parasites or bacterial overgrowth and found none. The case for clove in the gut is entirely traditional and laboratory-based.

The reviews are the most that exist. Cortés-Rojas and colleagues cover antioxidant, antimicrobial and larvicidal findings and the traditional use of clove as a medicinal plant and food preservative. Batiha and colleagues describe antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, antifungal and antibacterial activity reported for clove extracts, oil and eugenol, and parasite-killing results in the laboratory. Neither review identifies a controlled trial of clove for a gut outcome.

The most concrete clinical record is of harm. Janes and colleagues describe a 15-month-old boy who ingested 10 ml of clove oil and developed fulminant liver failure, with an alanine aminotransferase level over 13,000 U/l after 24 hours; it improved after intravenous N-acetylcysteine. They also report a 14-fold rise in aromatherapy-related home accidents in a national database from 1994 to 1999, and conclude that clove oil is hepatotoxic.

Nothing in the literature we searched tests clove, ground bud or oil in a randomized trial for nausea, indigestion, flatulence or parasites, or sets a dose. The HMPC also decided not to create a monograph for the flower, so no regulator has reviewed a gut indication.

StudyDoseWhat it found
Review: Clove (Syzygium aromaticum), a precious spice (laboratory and traditional-use evidence; no gut trial) PMID 25182278Not applicableEugenol-rich phenolics; antioxidant and antimicrobial activity in the laboratory; no controlled gut trial identified
Review: Syzygium aromaticum, traditional uses, constituents and activities (laboratory and animal findings) PMID 32019140Not applicableEugenol reported lethal to Giardia lamblia and other parasites in the laboratory; used traditionally for nausea, vomiting and flatulence
Case report and national database analysis: 15-month-old child who swallowed clove oil PMID 1589525110 ml clove oil, single ingestionFulminant hepatic failure, ALT over 13,000 U/l; recovered with N-acetylcysteine

Doses used in trials and traditional preparations

We found no dose of clove tested for a gut outcome in people. The traditional preparations are the whole bud as a spice or chewed, ground bud in food or tea, and the oil, which is a concentrated product rather than a tea. The only quantity documented in the clinical literature we read is 10 ml of clove oil, which caused liver failure in a 15-month-old child. The Hong Kong herb database lists no dosage for ding xiang.

Treat these figures as a record of what was studied. Whether any amount of clove suits a particular person is a question for a clinician or pharmacist who knows their history.

Safety

Clove oil is hepatotoxic in large amounts: Janes and colleagues describe fulminant liver failure after a toddler swallowed 10 ml, and a national database showed a 14-fold rise in aromatherapy-related home accidents over several years. The Hong Kong herb database lists allergic contact dermatitis, especially in people regularly exposed to the herb. We found no data on supplemental clove in pregnancy, breastfeeding or children, and no heavy-metal or adulteration findings specific to clove supplements. No trial reports side effects of the bud or ground spice at supplement doses, because no gut trial exists.

Drug interactions

The Hong Kong herb database lists that clove may increase INR and the risk of bleeding, a note for people taking warfarin or other blood thinners; this is a database entry, and we found no controlled study. We found no formal interaction study of clove in people. The concern in the clinical literature we read is the concentrated oil, not the spice used in food.

Prescriptions flagged alongside clove

Published interaction references put these medicines next to this herb, and the quiz acts on them; a pharmacist is the person to confirm any of it:

Products in the catalog with clove

These catalog entries list clove or one of its preparations among their active ingredients. Each page shows the amount on the label, the trials behind it and what buyers report.

NOW Foods Green Black Walnut Wormwood Complex 4.4 out of 5 from 4,921 ratings from Amazon · ~$0.48 a day at the full label dose, about $0.12 at the lowest Renew Life PARA SMART Cleansing Formula, 15-Day Program 4.2 out of 5 from 1,398 ratings from Amazon · ~$2.04 a day across the full 15-day program Haya Herbs Belly Bliss Tea 4.95 out of 5 from 22 ratings from hayaherbs.com · $0.90 a day

Is a clove product right for you?

Answer a few questions about your symptoms, routine and medicines, and the quiz names one product, with the reasons it won.

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Related herbs

Ayurvedic / TCM / Western Cinnamon Cinnamomum verum (Ceylon) and Cinnamomum cassia and related species (cassia) Ayurvedic / TCM / Western Cardamom Elettaria cardamomum (small or green cardamom); Amomum species in Chinese medicine Western Oregano Origanum vulgare Ayurvedic / TCM / Western Ginger Zingiber officinale

The questions that come up

Is there a trial showing clove helps nausea or indigestion?

We found none. The use rests on tradition in Ayurveda and Chinese medicine, where it is listed for vomiting, hiccups and cold stomach pain, and on laboratory work. The EU herbal committee decided not to create a monograph for clove flower.

What does Chinese medicine use clove for?

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University herb database lists ding xiang as pungent and warm, used for hiccups, vomiting, poor appetite, diarrhea and cold-type stomach pain. In the tradition’s terms it warms the middle and checks stomach qi rising against its normal direction.

What does Ayurveda say about clove?

One text cited by the Wisdom Library calls lavanga fragrant, bitter and pungent, and pacifying to pitta and kapha. Another lists it among things taken after a meal to ease phlegm that can weaken digestive fire. Popular sources disagree about its heating or cooling potency.

Is clove oil safe to swallow?

It can be dangerous. A 15-month-old boy developed fulminant liver failure after swallowing 10 ml, though he recovered with treatment. The oil is much stronger than the spice.

Does clove kill parasites?

In the laboratory, eugenol, its main compound, has killed several parasites including Giardia lamblia. We found no human trial showing that clove clears a parasite from the gut.

Sources