Suffusencing works only on certain item types (fish, glyphs, comfreys) and it adds an Enhanced Effect buff to those items. As an example, a tier I fish (sardine) suffused with a tier I essence will have some amount of +%EE, increasing the amount of life/mana provided by the fish.
You can also suffusence a stack of 2 or more essences for a chance at one essence with +1 magical level (for example, suffuse a stack of 2x tier I magical essences for a chance at creating a tier I rare essence).
The tier that you can suffuse is limited by your proficiency level, so with level 0 proficiency you'll only be able to suffuse tier I items.