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A Eugenious Way of Anesthesia: The Effects of Different Clove Oil Anesthesia Administration Methods on Earthworm Physiology and Behaviorology

by Alana Wolfson, University of Connecticut
April 27, 2026 ISBN: 979-8-89480-845-1 NYCSEA Journal

Abstract: Clove oil, Eugenia caryophyllata, is portrayed as an alternative form of local anesthesia through immersion. The active ingredient eugenol allows for clove oil to inhibit voltage gated sodium channels. Nevertheless, anesthesia administration through immersion is comparable to topical application on humans, which is suggested to reduce pain moderately. Moreover, local anesthesia administration through intravenous injection is significantly more potent; however, injecting oil into an individual’s blood stream can create pulmonary embolisms. Nevertheless, epicutaneous microneedling provides an administration method for analgesics by delivering into the epidermis layer. Epicutaneous application is an application that is utilized for immunotherapy and allergy testing in humans. Earthworms Lumbricus terrestris were the specimens tested due to their complex neurological functionalities. Mobility, convulsions, stimuli response, regeneration, and mortality were evaluated with concentrations of 0%, 0.5%, 1% with epicutaneous or immersion administration. It was demonstrated that the 1% epicutaneous administration was the most effective in sedating directly after application. Moreover, neither the 0.5% or 1.0% concentration of clove oil caused any notable change in regeneration, over an average of 5 convulsions throughout 60 minutes, and no mortalities were recorded. The limitation of this experiment consists of an error in sealing the petri dishes during the mobility assay. Future implications consist of more trials for validation and evaluating vaporization as another potential application. Epicutaneous administration of 1% concentration of clove oil was examined as safe and effective in analgesic sedation.

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