Syzygium aromaticum L. (Clove): A vital herbal drug used in periodontal disease

Abstract

Cloves are widely used in dental care, and are effective against a large number of bacteria. The main component of clove oil is eugenol, with β-caryophyllene and eugenyl acetate. The review of published results reveals a great opportunity to treat periodontal disease. The purpose of this study is to compare the bud, leaf and stem essential oil compositions from S. aromaticum and then to evaluate the correlation of the results with anatomic and geographical origins of the essential oil. Many commercial essential oils isolated from bud, leaf and stem were used in this work. The oils were analyzed by GC and then constituents were identified from the whole. The major constituent in oils was eugenol, with increasing percentages from bud (72.08 - 82.36%) to leaf (75.04 - 83.58%) and stem (87.52 - 96.65%). In the clove bud essential oil eugenyl acetate is the second major component (8.6 - 21.3%) while detected in considerably lower amount in the leaf (0 - 1.45%) and stem (0.07 - 2.53%). In leaf essential oil, the second main compounds were β-caryophyllene (11.65 - 19.53%) and α-humulene (1.38 - 2.17%), less represented in bud essential oils (2.76 - 8.64% and 0.34 - 1.04% respectively) and in stem essential oils (1.66 - 9.7% and 0.22 - 1.31% respectively). For each plant material, variation in the percentage of the main constituents was observed according to the sample geographic origin.