Essential Oils: From Phytochemistry to Ecophysiological Significances and Their Applications

A special issue of Plants (ISSN 2223-7747).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2019) | Viewed by 15013

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Department of Agroecology and Crop Production, University of Agriculture in Krakow, 31-120 Krakow, Poland
Interests: weed science; herbicide resistance; crop–weed interactions, allelopathy, botanical herbicides
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LE STUDIUM Loire Valley Institute for Advanced Studies, Orléans, FRANCE
Interests: antivirals; organic chemistry; nucleosides; medicinal chemistry; virus

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In modern sustainable industries, “green products”, based on natural compounds, are of the highest importance. From this standpoint, essential oils are considered the most widely used natural products in many areas. Most of them have been used as fragrances, flavoring agents or as medicines since ancient times. At present, a renaissance of the research on essential oils in the traditional but also new industries is observed. Essential oils are extensively studied to treat various human ailments, for their potential cosmetic applications, but also for crop protection, as so-called botanical pesticides. This Special Issue is in connection with the Biological Activities of Essential Oils International Conference by Le Studium with the aim to give an overview of the modern biological applications and activities of essential oils. In addition, their phytochemistry and ecophysiological significances are also considered. For that purpose, original research articles, reviews, industrial cases, and short communications are also welcomed and encouraged.

Please find additional information on this Conference at: http://www.lestudium-ias.com/event/biological-activities-essential-oils

Dr. Christophe Hano
Dr. Agnieszka Synowiec
Dr. Aurelien Montagu
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • natural cosmetics
  • natural products
  • anticancer activities
  • biodiversity of EOs
  • phytochemistry of EOs
  • environmental effects
  • microbiological effects
  • anti-inflammatory effects
  • botanical pesticides
  • phytopharmaceuticals
  • phytocosmeceuticals

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 3003 KiB  
Article
Improved Production of Industrially Important Essential Oils Through Elicitation in the Adventitious Roots of Artemisia amygdalina
by Faqeer Taj, Mubarak Ali Khan, Huma Ali and Raham Sher Khan
Plants 2019, 8(10), 430; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8100430 - 20 Oct 2019
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3633
Abstract
The limited production of bioactive essential oils in natural plants does not meet the increasing worldwide market demand. Plant cell culture technology can be used for the higher production of industrially important essential oils. In the present study, a suitable method for production [...] Read more.
The limited production of bioactive essential oils in natural plants does not meet the increasing worldwide market demand. Plant cell culture technology can be used for the higher production of industrially important essential oils. In the present study, a suitable method for production of essential oils was developed through establishment and elicitation of adventitious roots (AR) in a medicinally important plant Artemisia amygdalina D. The results indicated that leaf explants cultured on solid Murashige and Skoog (MS) media supplemented with 1.0 mg/L α- naphthalene acetic acid (NAA) and 4% sucrose instigated the higher AR induction frequency (90  ±  4.25) and maximum AR biomass (fresh biomass: 17.7 g/L). Furthermore, in the AR when transiently elicited with different elicitors for different time periods, methyl jasmonate (Me-J: 0.5 mg/L) resulted in the higher production of total phenolic content (TPC: 3.6 mg), total flavonoid content (TFC: 2.3 mg) and phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL: 4.8 U/g×FW) activity, respectively. Nonetheless, considerable levels of the major bioactive compounds such as α-thujene (6.8%), α-pinene (8.3%), 1,8-cineole (16.2%), camphor (8.4%) and verbenole (10.2%) were recorded in the Me-J treated AR. Thus, a feasible protocol for production of essential oils through AR in A. amygdalina was established, which can be exploited for commercial production of the industrially important terpenes. Full article
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12 pages, 273 KiB  
Article
Potential Phytotoxic Effect of Essential Oil of Non-Native Species Impatiens parviflora DC.
by Jana Jurová, Martina Matoušková, Anna Wajs-Bonikowska, Danuta Kalemba, Marek Renčo, Vincent Sedlák, Zuzana Gogaľová, Janka Poráčová, Peter Šalamún and Daniela Gruľová
Plants 2019, 8(7), 241; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8070241 - 23 Jul 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3362
Abstract
Impatiens parviflora is non-native invasive plant species occupying large areas all over the Europe and threatens native communities by altering their species composition and reducing native biodiversity. The factor responsible for its spreading could be explained by releasing biochemical to the environment. On [...] Read more.
Impatiens parviflora is non-native invasive plant species occupying large areas all over the Europe and threatens native communities by altering their species composition and reducing native biodiversity. The factor responsible for its spreading could be explained by releasing biochemical to the environment. On the other hands, high demand on secondary metabolites as potential source of new ecofriendly biocides could be beneficial. The analysis of I. parviflora essential oil (EO) led us to identify more than 60 volatiles. The main compound was hexahydrofarnesyl acetone, other dominant components were phytol, carvacrol, germacra-4(15),5,10(14)-trien-1-α-ol, and pentacosane. The potential phytotoxic effect of I. parviflora EO collected in two vegetation periods (summer and autumn) was evaluated on seed germination and root elongation of three dicot species (Raphanus sativus, Lepidum sativum, and Lactuca sativa) and on one monocot species (Triticum aestivum). The seed germination of only one dicot species, L. sativa, was affected by both EOs. In contrast, seed germination of monocot species T. aestivum was influenced only by the highest doses of EOs isolated from I. parviflora in autumn. The root elongation of tested plant species was less influenced by I. parviflora EOs. L. sativum showed sensitivity to one dose of EOs hydrodistilled in summer, while the monocot species was influenced by both EOs samples in highest doses. Our findings revealed that I. parviflora contained phenolics that were phytotoxic to the germination of some plant species, mainly at higher EOs doses, while root elongation of tested plants was not suppressed by essential oils. Full article
10 pages, 5499 KiB  
Article
Organic Certification is Not Enough: The Case of the Methoxydecane Frankincense
by Stephen Johnson, Anjanette DeCarlo, Prabodh Satyal, Noura S. Dosoky, Aaron Sorensen and William N. Setzer
Plants 2019, 8(4), 88; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants8040088 - 04 Apr 2019
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 7032
Abstract
Frankincense, the oleo-gum-resin of Boswellia trees, has been an important religious and medicinal element for thousands of years, and today is used extensively for essential oils. One of the most popular frankincense species is Boswellia sacra Flueck. (syn. Boswellia carteri Birdw.) from Somalia [...] Read more.
Frankincense, the oleo-gum-resin of Boswellia trees, has been an important religious and medicinal element for thousands of years, and today is used extensively for essential oils. One of the most popular frankincense species is Boswellia sacra Flueck. (syn. Boswellia carteri Birdw.) from Somalia and Somaliland. Recent increases in demand have led to many areas being overharvested, emphasizing the need for incentives and monitoring for sustainable harvesting, such as certification schemes. Concurrently, a new chemical component, called methoxydecane, has emerged in oils claimed to be B. carteri, suggesting the possibility of a chemical marker of overharvesting or other stress that could aid in monitoring. To find the source of this new chemical component, we sampled resin directly from trees in areas producing the new methoxydecane chemotype. This revealed that methoxydecane comes not from Boswellia carteri, but from a newly described frankincense species, Boswellia occulta. The presence of Boswellia occulta oil in essential oil sold as pure B. carteri, including certified organic oil, emphasizes the current lack of traceability in the supply chain and the ineffectiveness of organic certification to secure purity and sustainable harvesting in wildcrafted species. Full article
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