Objective:To investigate the synergistic effects of clove oil inclusion complex with penicillin against Staphylococcus aureus.Methods:The inclusion rate was used as an indicator to design an orthogonal test for establishing the optimal inclusion process of clove oil in 1 g/mL hydroxypropylβ-cyclodextrin solution.A chessboard method was used to determine whether clove oil inclusion complex combined with penicillin could enhance the anti-Staphylococcus aureus activity of the two drugs.Results:The optimal process for coating clove oil with hydroxypropyl β-cyclodextrin was as follows:the inclusion temperature was 60 ℃,and the droplet rate of clove oil was 0.04 mL/min,the mixing inclusion time was 7.5 h.The optimal inclusion rate was 28.6%.The test of checkerboard study found that the partial inhibitory concentration(FIC)index of clove oil combined with penicillin against Staphylococcus aureus was 0.375,which was lower than the FIC index of synergistic effect of 0.5.Therefore,the two drugs had synergistic effects of anti-Staphylococcus aureus.Conclusion:The clove oil,a traditional Chinese medicine ingredient,cormbined with penicillin could enhance the anti Staphylococcus aureus activity of penicillin.