Drug & supplement interaction

Clove + Minocycline

Minocycline brand names: Vectrin, Dynacin, Minocin, Minocin IV, Solodyn, and others.

Minor Interaction
Medically reviewed by · Updated September 2026
The bottom line Minor

Clove has a minor interaction with Minocycline. Theoretically, clove oil may increase the risk of bleeding if used with anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs.

Read the full interaction report
SeverityMinor
LikelihoodUnlikely
EvidenceD
What do Severity, Likelihood & Evidence mean?
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Interaction report

Clove and Minocycline

Here is the interaction we found between these two, with the evidence behind it.

Minor

ANTICOAGULANT/ANTIPLATELET DRUGS

Why this applies to Minocycline

Minocycline falls under ANTICOAGULANT/ANTIPLATELET DRUGS — the group Clove interacts with.

Theoretically, clove oil may increase the risk of bleeding if used with anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs.
Laboratory research suggests that eugenol, a constituent of clove, has antiplatelet activity. This interaction has not been reported in humans.
Severity Minor Likelihood Unlikely Evidence D

Interaction has been demonstrated in animal or in lab research but has been shown not to occur in humans..

Dr. Brian Staiger, PharmD, BCPS
Dr. Brian Staiger explains PharmD, Clinical Pharmacist

Here's the honest scoop on pairing clove with minocycline. The interaction in our system is really about clove's possible effect on blood clotting, not about the antibiotic itself. Lab studies hint that eugenol, the main compound in clove oil, may make platelets a little less sticky, which in theory could nudge up bleeding risk when combined with blood thinners.

Minocycline isn't a true anticoagulant, so this is a very soft, theoretical concern. It has never actually been reported in people, and the small amount of clove you'd get from cooking is unlikely to matter. Concentrated clove oil or supplements are a different story. If you take a real blood thinner or notice easy bruising, just check with your pharmacist or doctor first.

Contact Dr. Brian directly if you have additional questions on this interaction
References
  1. Chen SJ, Wang MH, Chen IJ. Antiplatelet and calcium inhibitory properties of eugenol and sodium eugenol acetate. Gen Pharmacol 1996;27:629-33. PubMed
  2. Srivastava, K. C. and Malhotra, N. Acetyl eugenol, a component of oil of cloves (Syzygium aromaticum L.) inhibits aggregation and alters arachidonic acid metabolism in human blood platelets. Prostaglandins Leukot.Essent.Fatty Acids 1991;42(1):73-81. PubMed
  3. Saeed, S. A. and Gilani, A. H. Antithrombotic activity of clove oil. J Pak Med Assoc 1994;44(5):112-115.
  4. Srivastava, K. C. Antiplatelet principles from a food spice clove (Syzygium aromaticum L) [corrected]. Prostaglandins Leukot.Essent.Fatty Acids 1993;48(5):363-372.

What These Ratings Mean

Every interaction above is graded three ways — here’s the key to each label.

Severity how clinically significant the interaction is
Major

Clinically significant. Avoid the combination, or use only under close professional supervision.

Moderate

Usually worth avoiding or managing — may need monitoring, a dose change, or timing apart.

Minor

Generally not serious. Be aware of it and mention it to your pharmacist.

Likelihood how strong the evidence is that the interaction actually happens in people
  • LikelyWell-controlled human studies have demonstrated the likely existence of this interaction.
  • ProbableInteraction has not been documented in well-controlled studies, however, the interaction has been demonstrated in some small human studies or in controlled animal studies in conjunction with multiple case reports.
  • PossibleInteraction has been documented in animal or in lab research, or the interaction has been documented in humans but is limited to case reports or conflicting clinical research exists.
  • UnlikelyInteraction has been demonstrated in animal or in lab research but has been shown not to occur in humans.
Evidence the quality of the studies behind the rating (graded A–D)
  • AHigh-quality meta-analysis (quantitative systematic review).
  • BCase-control study.
  • CConsensus.
  • DAnecdotal evidence.

These ratings are for information only. Never start, stop, or otherwise change your therapy before speaking with your provider.

Keep it in perspective

Clove Also Interacts With Other Medications

Clove has 917 moderate, 59 minor known drug interactions in our database — the Minocycline one above is one of them. If you take anything else, check it against the full list below.

Moderate 917 Minor 59 No known interaction 1,854 (incl. Minocycline)
Taking anything else?

Check Another of Your Medications Against Clove

Covers the 2,830 medications we’ve checked against Clove. Pick one to open its full report.

From our Q&A

Questions About Clove or Minocycline

These are real questions from readers, answered by the pharmacists at HelloPharmacist — written by a person, not generated from a database. Each one covers Clove or Minocycline, not necessarily both, but if one is close to what you were about to ask it will usually go further than a database entry can:

Not quite your question? Ask our pharmacists directly — it is free, there is no account required, and answers usually come back within 24 hours.

Everything else you take

See Every Supplement That Interacts With Minocycline

This page covers Clove only. If you take other supplements — a multivitamin, a sleep aid, something for joints — the Minocycline page lists 331 supplements it has a documented interaction with, worst first, each one explained.

The most serious there right now: Activated Charcoal (major), Asarabacca (major), Beer (major), Danshen (major) and Oleander (major).

By severity: 9 major · 290 moderate · 32 minor.

From our pharmacist’s overview on the Minocycline page

“This is one of the longer interaction lists I review, and with minocycline it earns real care rather than a shrug. Most entries pair this tetracycline antibiotic, taken for acne and other infections, with supplements that raise bleeding risk, and a second sizable group, beer and wine included, can add strain on the liver.”

Reviewed by 2 · Jul 18, 2026

Open the Minocycline interaction page

One more smart check

Taking Clove as Part of a Dietary Supplement Product? Check It for Interactions

We hold 59 real supplement products containing Clove, each one broken down to its full ingredient list — and combination products often carry several ingredients besides Clove. Your product may carry other ingredients that interact with Minocycline too, on top of Clove — and those would not show on this page. Find your product and we’ll check every ingredient on its label:

How much people look this up

Where Clove and Minocycline Sit Against Everything Else

Out of every supplement and medication people look up on HelloPharmacist, here is where these two land this week — and which way each has been moving.

Supplement Clove
Top 25%

#181 of 1,452 supplements looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today
Medication Minocycline
Top half

#845 of 2,830 medications looked up here in the last 7 days

29 days ago today

Position among everything looked up on this site, not a measure of how commonly either one is used or how important it is. A supplement can climb this list because of a news story. It counts every request to the page, automated ones included, and nothing here identifies anyone.

Supplement

About Clove

What is Clove?

Clove
  • Toothache and oral pain
  • Digestive upset
  • Antimicrobial and antifungal
  • Cough and respiratory complaints
  • Flavoring in food and drinks

Clove is a common cooking spice that is also used in traditional medicine, especially as a topical numbing agent for tooth pain thanks to its main compound, eugenol. Food amounts are generally safe, but concentrated clove oil and supplements can be irritating or toxic if overused, and human evidence for most health claims is limited. Talk to your pharmacist or doctor before using clove medicinally, especially in children or during pregnancy.

Read the full Clove monograph & all interactions
Medication

About Minocycline

What Is Minocycline Used For?

Brand names: Vectrin, Dynacin, Minocin, Minocin IV, Solodyn, Acnamino MR, Minocin MR, Sebomin MR, Aknemin, Arestin Miscrosperes, Amzeeq, Zilxi

Oral and intravenous minocycline products treat many serious bacterial infections, including Rocky Mountain spotted fever, respiratory tract infections, sexually transmitted infections such as lymphogranuloma venereum and nongonococcal urethritis, plague, cholera, brucellosis, tularemia, and others caused by susceptible organisms. MINOCIN Intravenous is used when oral therapy is not adequate or tolerated.

Extended-release oral minocycline tablets are indicated specifically for inflammatory lesions of moderate to severe acne vulgaris in patients 12 years and older — not for treating infections. AMZEEQ (topical foam) treats inflammatory lesions of moderate to severe acne vulgaris in patients 9 years and older. ZILXI (topical foam) and EMROSI (oral capsule) are indicated for inflammatory lesions of rosacea in adults. ARESTIN (oral powder placed by a dental professional) is used alongside scaling and root planing to reduce pocket depth in adult periodontitis.

See full Minocycline drug information
Keep checking

Other Drugs & Clove

Browse every other medication we’ve checked against Clove — both the ones with a known interaction and the ones without. Select any drug for the full detail.

0Major
917Moderate
59Minor
1,853No known interaction
917 Moderate 59 Minor 1,853 No interaction
Moderate

917 interactions

Showing 60 of 917 moderate interactions — see all 917 on the Clove page.

Minor

59 interactions

No interaction 1,853 drugs checked — show the list

We also checked Clove against these medications and found no known interaction in our sources. Open any page to confirm.

Showing the 60 most looked-up of 1,853 medications checked with no known interaction — see the full Clove list.

See the full Clove interactions page
See every supplement checked against Minocycline, ranked by severity
Sources

Sources & How We Checked

Interaction details are evidence-graded and sourced from the Natural Medicines database. The medication overview comes from MedlinePlus.

Content is written and reviewed by licensed HelloPharmacist pharmacists. See our data sources and editorial standards for how this information is built and checked.

Parts of this content are provided by the Therapeutic Research Center, LLC.

DISCLAIMER: Currently this does not check for drug-drug interactions. This is not an all-inclusive comprehensive list of potential interactions and is for informational purposes only. Not all interactions are known or well-reported in the scientific literature, and new interactions are continually being reported. Input is needed from a qualified healthcare provider including a pharmacist before starting any therapy. Application of clinical judgment is necessary.

© 2021 Therapeutic Research Center, LLC

Keep exploring
Clove monograph › Uses, safety, and every drug interaction in one place Minocycline supplement interactions › Every supplement checked against Minocycline, ranked by severity Minocycline drug information › The full plain-English guide to this medication Supplement interaction checker › Check any supplement or product against your medications Browse medications A–Z › Every drug we've checked against herbs & supplements Ask a pharmacist › Free, personal answer from our licensed team
Pharmacist Counseling Corner

Taking Clove and Minocycline Together: Common Questions

Can you take Clove with Minocycline?
There is only a minor interaction, which is usually not serious. Read the full details on this page and confirm with your pharmacist before combining them.
How serious is the Clove and Minocycline interaction?
We rate it Minor. This interaction is generally not clinically significant, but it remains worth noting and discussing with your pharmacist.

Written and reviewed by the HelloPharmacist editorial staff. Our editorial policy

Still Have a Question About Minocycline and Clove?

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This information is for education only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always check with your pharmacist or doctor before starting, stopping, or combining supplements and medications.