Medicinal & Aromatic Plants
Open Access
ISSN: 2167-0412
ISSN: 2167-0412
Alessandro Properzi, Paola Angelini, Gianluigi Bertuzzi and Roberto Venanzoni
Presentation of case: Essential oils and their volatile constituents have been widely used since the middle ages, to prevent and treat human disease. They have been widely used for bactericidal, fungicidal, antioxidant, allelochemical, medicinal, cosmetic applications, pharmaceutical, sanitary, cosmetic, agricultural and food industries. They contain some volatile constituents, such as phenol-derived aromatic components, aliphatic components, terpenes and terpenoids. In vitro evidence shows that essential oils can act as antibacterial agents against pathogenic fungi and bacterial strains. Aim: The finality of this review is to aim of attracting the attention of scientific community seeking new drugs from plant and fungi, as well as to study the pharmaceutical diversity of essential oils. Conclusion: The data presented show how the old art of “essential oil therapy” is revitalized due to the progress of scientific knowledge on their mode of action.