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Review
. 2022 Aug 24:13:956541.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2022.956541. eCollection 2022.

Essential Oils as Multicomponent Mixtures and Their Potential for Human Health and Well-Being

Marek Bunse  1 , Rolf Daniels  2 , Carsten Gründemann  3 , Jörg Heilmann  4 , Dietmar R Kammerer  1 , Michael Keusgen  5 , Ulrike Lindequist  6 , Matthias F Melzig  7 , Gertrud E Morlock  8 , Hartwig Schulz  9 , Ralf Schweiggert  10 , Meinhard Simon  11 , Florian C Stintzing  1 , Michael Wink  12
Affiliations
Review

Essential Oils as Multicomponent Mixtures and Their Potential for Human Health and Well-Being

Marek Bunse et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Essential oils (EOs) and their individual volatile organic constituents have been an inherent part of our civilization for thousands of years. They are widely used as fragrances in perfumes and cosmetics and contribute to a healthy diet, but also act as active ingredients of pharmaceutical products. Their antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties have qualified EOs early on for both, the causal and symptomatic therapy of a number of diseases, but also for prevention. Obtained from natural, mostly plant materials, EOs constitute a typical example of a multicomponent mixture (more than one constituent substances, MOCS) with up to several hundreds of individual compounds, which in a sophisticated composition make up the property of a particular complete EO. The integrative use of EOs as MOCS will play a major role in human and veterinary medicine now and in the future and is already widely used in some cases, e.g., in aromatherapy for the treatment of psychosomatic complaints, for inhalation in the treatment of respiratory diseases, or topically administered to manage adverse skin diseases. The diversity of molecules with different functionalities exhibits a broad range of multiple physical and chemical properties, which are the base of their multi-target activity as opposed to single isolated compounds. Whether and how such a broad-spectrum effect is reflected in natural mixtures and which kind of pharmacological potential they provide will be considered in the context of ONE Health in more detail in this review.

Keywords: antibiotic resistance; essentail oils; integrative medicine; multicomponent mixtures; phytotherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Authors MB, DK, and FS are employed by WALA Heilmittel GmbH; Germany and author HS acts as consultant (Consulting & Project Management for Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, Germany). The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Concept of EOs acting as MOCS with multi-target functional groups.
SCHEME 1
SCHEME 1
Biosynthetic pathways of major volatile organic compounds. Modified according to Caissard et al. (2004).
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
EOs as MOCS and their potential multi-target interactions with proteins.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Examples of chemical structures of EO constituents. Modified according to Hyldgaard et al. (2012).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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