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Review
. 2016 Sep 22;3(4):25.
doi: 10.3390/medicines3040025.

Essential Oils' Chemical Characterization and Investigation of Some Biological Activities: A Critical Review

Wissal Dhifi  1 , Sana Bellili  2   3 , Sabrine Jazi  4   5 , Nada Bahloul  6   7 , Wissem Mnif  8   9
Affiliations
Review

Essential Oils' Chemical Characterization and Investigation of Some Biological Activities: A Critical Review

Wissal Dhifi et al. Medicines (Basel). .

Abstract

This review covers literature data summarizing, on one hand, the chemistry of essential oils and, on the other hand, their most important activities. Essential oils, which are complex mixtures of volatile compounds particularly abundant in aromatic plants, are mainly composed of terpenes biogenerated by the mevalonate pathway. These volatile molecules include monoterpenes (hydrocarbon and oxygenated monoterpens), and also sesquiterpenes (hydrocarbon and oxygenated sesquiterpens). Furthermore, they contain phenolic compounds, which are derived via the shikimate pathway. Thanks to their chemical composition, essential oils possess numerous biological activities (antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, etc…) of great interest in food and cosmetic industries, as well as in the human health field.

Keywords: biological activities; chemical composition; essential oils.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Structures of some terpenes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Biosynthesis pathways of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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