What Are the Benefits of Clove Buds?

Clove is a stand-by on your kitchen spice rack and a popular ingredient in mulled cider, spice cake, and baked ham. Clove buds---also called whole cloves---are actually the dried flower buds from an Indonesian evergreen and contain essential oil with several medicinal uses. With such benefits as easing pain and promoting healing, clove buds and essential clove oil will quickly become a stand-by in your medicine cabinet, too.

Anesthetic Benefits

• Dentists commonly use essential oil of clove buds to relieve tooth and gum pain. Clove buds contain eugenol, that instills the oil extract with anesthetic (pain relieving) properties. Place a clove bud in a cavity or hold it between the jaws to ease a toothache. Gargling with a mixture of clove oil and warm water can help soothe a sore throat.

Antiseptic Benefits

• Essential oil from clove buds is golden in color.

  The eugenol in clove oil acts as an antiseptic when you apply it to a wound or sore, killing bacteria and promoting faster healing. For the best benefit, dilute the oil with water to a strength of 1%, since full strength clove oil can irritate sensitive skin. You can also make a paste of ground clove bud and honey and apply it to the affected area. Rinse your mouth with clove oil in water to kill germs which cause bad breath and give your mouth a fresh, spicy scent.

Respiratory Benefits

• Clove oil has a highly-concentrated, pleasantly spicy scent.

  Clove bud essential oil is effective as a decongestant when used in a vaporizer. Inhaling steam tinged with a few drops of clove oil can relieve symptoms of asthma, bronchitis, coughs, and colds. You can also boil a half-dozen clove buds in a cup of water, add honey to taste, and drink 2-3 times per day as a cough reliever. A few drops of essential clove oil on a piece of cloth placed in your closet will freshen the air. Clove buds in potpourri give it a spicier, longer lasting scent.

Topical Benefits

• Clove oil contains salicylic acid, a common treatment for acne which helps to prevent eruptions and clear existing blemishes by unplugging pores and reducing swelling. Salicylic acid also benefits psoriasis (scaly skin disease), dandruff, warts, and calluses.

Pest Control Benefits

• Clove oil repels mosquitos and other problem insects.

  Clove oil is often the active ingredient in natural herbicides and effectively kills many undesirable plants. It is a proven mosquito repellent. You can also use clove oil to kill bedbugs and mites. To use in a spray bottle, mix 1 part clove oil to 10 parts water.

Antifungal Benefits

• Clove oil helps to clear up fungal infections. Fungus-related ailments such as as ringworm and athlete's foot will respond to topical treatments of a 1% clove oil dilution in water, or a commercially-prepared topical cream containing clove oil.

Digestive Benefit

• Brew up some clove bud tea to ease a stomachache.

  Folk medicine practitioners utilize clove bud tea to benefit nausea, relieve flatulence, and fortify weak digestion. Simply boil a few clove buds in water. Another way to uses cloves for relief of digestive maladies is to gradually swallow a mixture of 1/8 teaspoon of ground clove and 1 tablespoon honey.