AROMATHERAPY AND ESSENTIAL OILS (CLOVE TREE AND CLOVE OIL)

Thank you for reading this article. This article will provide brief information on the clove tree, its history, clove essential oil extracted from clove tree plus uses of clove oil.

CLOVE TREE (Syzygium aromaticum)

The clove tree is small tropical evergreen tree, its native to eastern Indonesia, specifically   Molucca. it grows to about10 meters when it matures. It has small rose peach flowers that are shaped like nails. Clove tree belongs to the mytle family of trees. (The myrtle family belongs to an order that contains about 9000 species, placed in 12 families. The myrtle family contains about 3000 species).

The name clove comes from the Latin word “clavius” which mean nails.

HISTORY OF THE CLOVE TREE

For centuries the clove tree has being used by many ancient civilizations, records of it’s use date back to the 3^rd century B.C. Emperors in Han dynasty requires an officials to chew clove buds to freshen their breath before appearing in the emperors presence (that was nice).

Clove tree was a very valuable spice, so valuable that wars were fought by ancient civilizations, to control the commercialization of it.

CLOVE OIL

Clove oils is extracted from the clove tree by steam distillation, the parts of the clove tree, that produce essential oil are: leaf, stem and flower. Each essential oil produced from these parts differs in their potency. But, generally this are there major constituent.

·         Acetyl-eugenol

·         Eugenol

·         Oleanolic acid

1.      Clove leaf: clove leaf essential oil contains about 80% of Eugenol and 20% of other     constitutes.

2.      Clove stem: clove stem oil is very similar to clove leaf oil because its major constituent is Eugenol which makes up about 95% of its content.

3.      Clove flower bud:  clove flower bud oil has an evenly distributed percentage of constitutes, although it’s made of 65% Eugenol.

Clove flower bud oils is the safest essential oil to use, this is because it has the lowest Eugenol content (Eugenol could cause skin irritation).

Please note: before using clove essential oil, consult a professional aroma therapists, for advice.

USES OF CLOVE OIL

Clove oil is a good antiseptic, anesthetic or analgesic. It’s used to fight viral infections, treat toothaches, diarrhea, gum inflammation and it’s a mind stimulant.

Thank you for reading this article