title: Biological Activities of Essential Oils: From Plant Chemoecology to Traditional Healing Systems.
abstract: Essential oils are complex mixtures of hydrocarbons and their oxygenated derivatives arising from two different isoprenoid pathways. Essential oils are produced by glandular trichomes and other secretory structures, specialized secretory tissues mainly diffused onto the surface of plant organs, particularly flowers and leaves, thus exerting a pivotal ecological role in plant. In addition, essential oils have been used, since ancient times, in many different traditional healing systems all over the world, because of their biological activities. Many preclinical studies have documented antimicrobial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities of essential oils in a number of cell and animal models, also elucidating their mechanism of action and pharmacological targets, though the paucity of in human studies limits the potential of essential oils as effective and safe phytotherapeutic agents. More well-designed clinical trials are needed in order to ascertain the real efficacy and safety of these plant products.
authors.affiliation: Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 981991953381 Tehran, Iran. javad.sharifirad@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Javad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sharifi-Rad
authors.affiliation: Research Group on Community Nutrition and Oxidative Stress, University of Balearic Islands, E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain. tosugo@hotmail.com.|CIBER: CB12/03/30038 Fisiopatología de la Obesidad y la Nutrición, CIBERobn, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (ISCIII), E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain. tosugo@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Antoni
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sureda
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, University of Naples "Federico II", Via Domenico Montesano, 80131 Napoli, Italy. giancarlo.tenore@unina.it.
authors.forename: Gian Carlo
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Tenore
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology Section, Pavia University, Viale Taramelli 12, 27100 Pavia, Italy. maria.daglia@unipv.it.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Daglia
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Parasitology, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, 61663335 Zabol, Iran. mehdi_sharifirad@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharifi-Rad
authors.affiliation: European Herbal and Traditional Medicine Practitioners Association (EHTPA), 25 Lincoln Close, GL20 5TY Tewkesbury, UK. marco.officinalessinia@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valussi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende (CS), Italy. rosa.tundis@unical.it.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tundis
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Zabol, 98615-538 Zabol, Iran. marzieh.sharifirad@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marzieh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharifi-Rad
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Health and Nutritional Sciences, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende (CS), Italy. mr.loizzo@unical.it.
authors.forename: Monica R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Loizzo
authors.affiliation: Functional Foods, Nutraceuticals and Phytomedicine Unit, Department of Biochemistry, Federal University of Technology, 340001 Akure, Nigeria. ademiluyidayo@yahoo.co.uk.|Departament of Biochemical and Molecular Biology, Centre of Natural Sciences and Exatas, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, 97105-900 Santa Maria, RS, Brazil. ademiluyidayo@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: Adedayo Oluwaseun
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Ademiluyi
authors.affiliation: Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 981991953381 Tehran, Iran. razieh.sharifirad@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Razieh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sharifi-Rad
authors.affiliation: Phytochemistry Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 981991953381 Tehran, Iran. tosugo@hotmail.com.|Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 981991953381,Tehran, Iran. tosugo@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Seyed Abdulmajid
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ayatollahi
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Milan State University, via G. Celoria 2, 20133 Milan, Italy. marcello.iriti@unimi.it.
authors.forename: Marcello
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iriti
mesh_terms: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D009822:Oils, Volatile / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents; D000975:Antioxidants; D009822:Oils, Volatile; D010938:Plant Oils
keywords: antimicrobial activity; ethnobotany; isoprenoids; monoterpenes; oral healthcare; traditional healing systems