Phytochemical composition of cloves: new evidence from 2025

The most immediate result is that the sample was not chemically uniform. Eugenol, an aromatic molecule from the phenylpropanoid family, was the main volatile component, accounting for 58.86% of the relative area detected. A total of 21 compounds were identified. This describes the profile of the analyzed sample, not a mandatory composition for every commercial product.

The extract neutralized the DPPH radical in a test tube with an IC50 of 0.08 ± 0.01 mg/mL. The practical significance is limited to the test: it indicates chemical reactivity toward that artificial radical. Since BHT and ascorbic acid had lower IC50 values in the same experiment, the extract was found to be less active than these references according to that measure. Docking data suggest theoretical affinities with selected proteins, but they do not replace microbiological, toxicological, or clinical tests.

For those who want to understand the quality of the spice, this work is useful because it links a dried bud to concrete measurements: estimated quantities of plant compound groups, the footprint of volatile molecules, and performance in an anti-radical test. It also shows why eugenol is often used as a descriptive indicator of the aromatic profile of cloves.

The relevance remains primarily analytical and preclinical. The research does not evaluate dietary consumption, intestinal absorption, bioavailability (the portion of a substance that reaches the circulation), nor benefits or risks in people. It therefore helps to characterize the plant material, but does not allow for the deduction of health effects from the mere presence of eugenol or the value obtained in the DPPH test.

The study concerns a single plant sample and tests performed outside the organism. Harvesting, bud age, drying, storage, origin, and extraction technique can modify the final profile. There is no evidence available that the reported percentages represent all dried buds on the market.

The DPPH test measures chemical capacity under controlled conditions; it does not directly measure oxidative stress in human tissues and is not equivalent to a preventive or therapeutic effect. Molecular docking is also a mathematical prediction: it can guide subsequent experiments, but it does not prove activity against bacteria nor efficacy as an insecticide. The 2025 study by Abdelmuhsin and colleagues is not a clinical trial and does not provide dietary doses or instructions for use.

Initial confirmation concerns the biological variability of the bud. Alfikri and colleagues compared three developmental stages in young and mature plants: they collected buds from 9 young and 3 mature plants, with three replicates per condition. Using GC-MS, they found eugenol levels between 68.05% and 82.38%, while the DPPH IC50 varied from 15.80 to 108.85 µg/mL [1]. This experimental study supports the transition from bud state to composition and analytical response. The confirmation is direct regarding the oil profile, but it does not coincide with the extract nor does it demonstrate effects in humans.

A second experimental study identified eugenol as the major component of an essential oil, at 53.23%, and observed anti-radical activity in vitro for both the oil and isolated eugenol [2]. The chain supported is volatile composition → eugenol contribution → response in a chemical assay. The oil had an EC50 of 78.98 µg/mL, while eugenol showed 12.66 µg/mL. This is moderate-level confirmation for the analytical mechanism, with the limitation that essential oil and bud extract are not equivalent.

A third experiment identified eugenol at 60.5% in the oil obtained from buds and measured the ability to neutralize the ABTS radical, another artificial laboratory system [3]. The result reinforces the idea that a eugenol-rich profile may be associated with anti-radical reactivity in vitro. The confirmation is indirect compared to the 2025 study, because it uses a different method and includes synthetic derivatives; it does not clarify the effect of the spice in the diet.

Available evidence indicates that activity and composition depend on the form examined. Politeo and colleagues compared volatile compounds released from sugar-bound forms with clove essential oil. Only eugenol was common to both profiles; the released fraction showed lower activity than the oil in both DPPH and FRAP tests, a method that measures reducing power [4]. This does not negate the results of Abdelmuhsin and colleagues from 2025, but it shows that the matrix and preparation method change the outcome.

Further evidence comes from an extraction experiment using pressurized carbon dioxide. Depending on pressure and temperature, the eugenol in the extracted oil ranged between 48.41% and 58.62%, with higher proportions of eugenyl acetate and beta-caryophyllene compared to the 2025 sample [5]. The model was a physicochemical system using ground buds, without biological tests and without a declared biological sample size. The discrepancy is relevant because it reduces the generalizability of a single GC-MS profile. No sufficiently relevant directly conflicting evidence regarding the identification of eugenol as an important component has been identified; this does not prove the absence of contrary results.