Translationale Medizin
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A Review on Major Constituents of Various Essential Oils and its Application

Kishmu Lingan

The word aromatherapy has become a household term, yet most of the people have no clear knowledge about its application. We would have a query that why plant produce essential oil, the reason is they protect the plant from fungal infection, insect pests and it attracts pollinators. Hence essential oil extracted from plants would be major source for antifungal and insecticidal agents. Studies were reported for the effect of essential oil components on food borne fungi and mycelia growth. The complex chemical constituents of essential oil could be due to the attraction of wide range of pollinators. Even though these volatile chemical constituents are naturally available in plants, extraction process plays the major role for its utilization. When plant material is subjected to steam distillation, the herb material under pressure which softens the cells and allows the essential oil to escape as vapor which was condensed and collected as essential oil. Various extraction processes have been evolved recently for the better yield of essential oil. Micro wave steam distillation and conventional steam distillation was noticed most common in the literature. This review is to discuss about the extraction methods, major constituents of various essential oils, and its application.