ABSTRACT
There are three types of clove essential oils: those made from the buds (clove bud oil), leaves (clove leaf oil) and from the stems (clove stem oil) of Syzygium aromaticum L. In this chapter, clove leaf oil is discussed. Clove leaf oil is a yellow to slightly brown mobile to slight viscous liquid which has a spicy, aromatic and sweet odor. In clove leaf oils from various origins, over 110 chemicals have been identified. Uncommon or rare constituents of clove leaf oils found in high concentrations (>4%) in single studies include 1,8-cineole (4.6% and 5.8%). The ten chemicals that had the highest maximum concentrations in 201 commercial clove leaf essential oil samples (concentration ranges provided) are the following: eugenol (75.7-89.1%), ß-caryophyllene (2.6-19.5%), eugenyl acetate (0.08-5.9%), α-humulene (0.5-3.0%), (E,E)-farnesyl acetate (0.01-0.7%), benzyl benzoate (0.03-0.6%), caryophyllene oxide (0.2-0.6%), α-copaene (0.01-0.6%), δ-cadinene (0.1-0.6%) and caryophyllene alcohol (0.02-0.4%) (Erich Schmidt, unpublished analytical data).
