Major bioactivities and mechanism of action of essential oils and their components

• Published in: Flavour and fragrance journal Vol. 28; no. 5; pp. 269 - 279
• Main Authors: Saad, Nizar Y., Muller, Christian D., Lobstein, Annelise
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.09.2013; Wiley
• Subjects: anti-apoptotic and anti-angiogenic properties; anti-tumour; antimicrobial activities; Chemical Sciences; essential oils; immuno-modulatory
• ISSN: 0882-5734; 1099-1026
• DOI: 10.1002/ffj.3165

ABSTRACT Essential oils are gaining increasing interest for their antimicrobial and antiviral properties, as well as for their preventive and therapeutic actions against many human pathologies. Herein, we present an overview on new discoveries in essential oil research, discussing antimicrobial activity, as well as immunomodulatory, anti‐apoptotic, anti‐angiogenic and anti‐tumoural properties. In addition, we emphasize recent advances in the identification of bioactive components and understanding of their mechanism of action. We discuss their molecular diversity and wide spectrum of activity as well as their structure–activity relationships and capability of targeting paradoxical responses triggered by different genes and pathways. Finally, we emphasize the effort required to isolate and identify the bioactive components of essential oils and to determine their cytotoxicity as their specificity. Thus, new approaches to specifically address bioactive components to selected targets could enhance the latter property in order to accommodate any cytotoxicity towards dysfunctioning loci. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. The review discusses the antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, anti‐apoptotic, anti‐angiogenic and anti‐tumoural properties of essential oils. We emphasize recent advances in identifying the bioactive components of essential oils and analysing their mechanism of action. We also discuss the wide spectrum of activity of essential oils as well as their structure–activity relationship and capability to target paradoxical responses. Finally, we emphasize that efforts should be undertaken to isolate and identify the bioactive components of essential oils and determine their cytotoxicity and their specificity.