Biological properties of essential oils and volatiles: Sources of variability

Abstract

Essential oils are a specific type of extracts that result either from hydro-, steam- or dry-distillation from any part of a duly identified botanical species, or by a mechanical process without heating, called expression, from the epicarp of Citrus fruit species. Any other type of extraction may provide a more, or less, volatiles-rich extract, but it is not an essential oil. Essential oils, per se, do not exist in the plant, since they result from a specific extraction procedure. In the plant there is a wide array of metabolites, only some of which will be extracted in the form of an essential oil, with variable composition even if just considering that they can either be obtained by distillation or expression. Man has used for long, both volatiles and essential oils, for a wide range of purposes in the pharmaceutical, food, beverage, cosmetic and perfumery industries, among others. The described biological activities of volatiles and essential oils are wide, but the results are not always congruent. Awareness of the factors that may influence the essential oil chemical variability and ultimately its biological activity, efficacy and safety, are thus very important. These comprise, a) the knowledge on the difference between plant volatiles and essential oils, b) the avoidance of botanical misidentification, c) getting information on plant parts chemical composition variability, the existence of chemotypes and essential oil components enantiomers, and also f) exploring different biological activity assay conditions, which was reviewed in this present work.

Keywords

• Essential oils,volatiles,biological properties

Kaynakça

1. Aazza, S., El-Guendouz, S., Miguel, M. G., Antunes, M. D., Faleiro, M. L., Correia, A. I., & Figueiredo, A. C. (2016). Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-hyperglycaemic activities of essential oils from Thymbra capitata, Thymus albicans, Thymus caespititius, Thymus carnosus, Thymus lotocephalus and Thymus mastichina from Portugal. Natural Product Communications 11: 1029-1038.
2. Adorjan, B., & Buchbauer, G. (2010) Biological properties of essential oils: an updated review. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 25, 407–426.
3. Barbosa, P., Lima, A. S., Vieira, P., Dias, L. S., Tinoco, M. T., Barroso, J. G., Pedro, L. G., Figueiredo, A. C, & Mota, M. (2010). Nematicidal activity of essential oils and volatiles derived from Portuguese aromatic flora against the pinewood nematode, Bursaphelenchus xylophilus. Journal of Nematology, 42, 8-16.
4. Belhattab, R., Larous, L., Figueiredo, A. C., Santos, P. A. G., Barroso, J. G., & Pedro, L. G. (2005). Origanum glandulosum Desf. grown wild in Algeria: essential oil composition and glycosidic bound volatiles. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 20, 209-213.
5. Bianchini, A., Tomi, P., Costa, J., & Bernardini, A. F. (2001). Composition of Helichrysum italicum (Roth) G. Don fil. subsp. italicum essential oil from Corsica (France). Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 16, 30-34.
6. Costa, P., Loureiro, J. M., Teixeira, M. A., & Rodrigues, A. E. (2015). Extraction of aromatic volatiles by hydrodistillation and supercritical fluid extraction with CO2 from Helichrysum italicum subsp. picardii growing in Potugal. Industrial Crops and Products, 77, 680-683.
7. Council of Europe (2010). European Pharmacopoeia, 7th edn. Vol. 1. Strasbourg, France, pp. 673-677.
8. Dandlen, S. A., Lima, A. S., Mendes, M. D., Miguel, M. G., Faleiro, M. L., Sousa, M. J., Pedro, L. G., Barroso, J. G., & Figueiredo, A. C. (2011). Antimicrobial activity, cytotoxicity and intracellular growth inhibition of Portuguese Thymus essential oils. Brazilian Journal of Pharmacognosy, 21, 1012-1024.

9. Dandlen, S. A., Miguel, M. G., Duarte, J. M., Faleiro, M. L., Sousa, M. J., Lima, A. S., Figueiredo, A. C., Pedro, L. G., & Barroso, J. G. (2011a) Acetylcholinesterase inhibition activity of Portuguese Thymus species essential oils. Journal of Essential Oil Bearing Plants, 14, 140-150.
10. Dandlen, S.A., Lima, S. A., Mendes, M. D., Miguel, M. G., Faleiro, M. L., Sousa, M. J., Pedro, L. G., Barroso, J. G., & Figueiredo, A. C. (2010) Antioxidant activity of six Portuguese thyme species essential oils. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 25, 150-155.
11. Faria, J. M. S., Barbosa, P., Bennett, R. N., Mota, M., & Figueiredo, A. C. (2013). Bioactivity against Bursaphelenchus xylophilus: namatotoxics from essential oils, essential oils fractions and decoction waters. Phytochemistry, 94, 220-228.
12. Faria, J. M. S., Sena, I., Moiteiro, C., Bennett, R. N., Mota, M., & Figueiredo, A. C. (2015). Nematotoxic and phytotoxic activity of Satureja montana and Ruta graveolens essential oils on Pinus pinaster shoot cultures and P. pinaster with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus in vitro co-cultures. Industrial Crops and Products, 77, 59–65.
13. Faria, J. M. S., Sena, I., Ribeiro, B., Rodrigues, A. M., Maleita, C. M. N., Abrantes, I., Bennett, R. N., Mota, M., & Figueiredo, A. C. (2016), First report on Meloidogyne chitwoodi hatching inhibition activity of essential oils and essential oils fractions. Journal of Pest Science, 89, 207–217.
14. Farmacopeia Portuguesa VIII (2005). INFARMED - Autoridade Nacional do Medicamento e Produtos de Saúde, Lisboa, Portugal.
15. Figueiredo, A. C., & Barroso, J. G. (2015). Medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP): how do they adapt to the environment? In A. Mathé (Ed.), Medicinal and Aromatic Plants of the World. Volume 1, Chapter 5, pp. 87-112. Springer, The Netherlands.
16. Figueiredo, A. C., Barroso, J. G., & Pedro, L. G. (2014). Extractos de PAM. In J. Cunha (Coord.) Guia para a produção de plantas aromáticas e medicinais: uma recolha de informação e boas práticas para a produção de plantas aromáticas e medicinais em Portugal. Ficha 8 pp. 1-9, no âmbito do Projeto Formar para a Produção de Plantas Aromáticas e Medicinais em Portugal promovido pela ADCMoura.
17. Figueiredo, A. C., Barroso, J. G., Pedro, L. G., & Scheffer, J. J. C. (2008). Factors affecting secondary metabolites production in plants: volatile components and essential oils. Flavour and Fragrance Journal, 23, 213-226.
18. Figueiredo, A. C., Barroso, J. G., Pedro, L. G., Salgueiro, L., Miguel, M. G., & Faleiro, M. L. (2008a). Portuguese Thymbra and Thymus species volatiles: chemical composition and biological activities. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 14, 3120- 3140.
19. Grosso, A. C., Costa, M. M., Ganço, L.., Pereira, A. L., Teixeira, G., Lavado, J. M. G., Figueiredo, A. C., Barroso, J. G., & Pedro, L. G. (2007). Essential oil composition of Pterospartum tridentatum grown in Portugal. Food Chemistry, 102, 1083- 1088.
20. ISO 856:2006. Oil of peppermint (Mentha x piperita L.)
21. Lenardão, E. J., Savegnago, L., Jacob, R., Victoria, F. N., & Martinez, D. M. (2016). Antinociceptive effect of essential oilsand their constituents: an update review. Journal of the Brazilian Chemical Society, 27, 435-474.
22. Miguel, G., Simões, M., Figueiredo, A. C., Barroso, J. G., Pedro, L. G., & Carvalho, L. (2004). Composition and antioxidant activities of the essential oils of Thymus caespititius, Thymus camphoratus and Thymus mastichina. Food Chemistry, 86, 183-188.
23. Miguel, M. G., Duarte, J., Mendes, M. D., Lima, A. S., Barroso, J. G., Pedro, L. G., & Figueiredo, A. C. (2009) Enantiomeric polymorphism of the flowers and leaf essential oils of Thymus camphoratus collected at different regions of Algarve (Portugal) (unpublished work).
24. Miguel, M. G., Gago, C., Antunes, M. D., Megías, C., Cortés-Giraldo, I., Vioque, J., Lima, A. S., & Figueiredo, A. C. (2015) Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of the essential oils from Thymbra capitata and Thymus species grown in Portugal. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Article ID 851721.
25. Pereira, S. I., Santos, P. A. G., Barroso, J. G., Figueiredo, A. C., Pedro, L. G., Salgueiro, L. R., Deans, S. G., & Scheffer, J. J. C. (2000). Chemical polymorphism of the essential oils from populations of Thymus caespititius grown on the island S. Jorge (Azores), Phytochemistry, 55, 241-246.
26. Pinto, E., Gonçalves, M. J., Oliveira, P., Coelho, J., Cavaleiro, C., & Salgueiro, L. (2014). Activity of Thymus caespititius essential oil and -terpineol against yeasts and filamentous fungi. Industrial Crops and Products, 62, 107-112.
27. Ruppert-Aulabaugh, L. (2014). Essential Oils for Aromatherapy. Perfumer & Flavorist, 39, 36-38.
28. Satta, M., Tuberoso, C. I. G., Angioni, A., Pirisi, F. M., & Cabras, P. (1999). Analysis of the essential oil of Helychrysumitalicum G. Don ssp. microphyllum (Willd) Nym. Journal of the Essential Oil Research, 11, 711-715.
29. Stahl-Biskup, E. (2002). Essential oil chemistry of the genus Thymus – a global view. In Stahl-Biskup, E., Sáez, F. (Eds), Medicinal and Aromatic Plants – industrial profiles, vol. 17, pp. 75-124. Taylor & Francis, London.
30. Sullivan, S. (2009). Caracterização química de óleos essenciais isolados de fitoterápicos e comerciais utilizados em aromaterapia: Eucalyptus globulus, Foeniculum vulgare e Mentha piperita. Relatório de Estágio Científico, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa e Instituto de Medicina Tradicional.
31. Ventura, C., & Lima, C. (2017). Óleos essenciais, produtos derivados e normalização. Estudo Orientado em Biologia Molecular e Genética, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa.