Essential oils are one of the most important natural products derived from plants, due to their various biological properties and their medicinal and nutritional uses. This chapter provides an overview of several different aspects relating to essential oils including a his‐ torical perspective, the uses of essential oils, their main sources and antifungal activity, their bioactive single consti...

Essential oils are aromatic hydrophobic liquids extracted commonly by hydro distillation from a diverse number of plant parts; this includes but is not limited to flowers, buds, seeds, leaves, twigs, bark, wood, fruits, receptacles and roots [1]. Specific compounds of interest can be obtained from processing plant tissue and using separation techniques. However this approach is expensive, signi...

Benefits of long-chain (≥C20) omega-3 oils (LC omega-3 oils) for reduction of the risk of a range of disorders are well documented. The benefits result from eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); optimal intake levels of these bioactive fatty acids for maintenance of normal health and prevention of diseases have been developed and adopted by national and international healt...

There is increasing interest in exploiting natural products as feed additives to solve problems in animal nutrition and livestock production. Essential oils and saponins are two types of plant secondary compounds that hold promise as natural feed additives for ruminants. This paper describes recent advances in research into these additives. The research has generally concentrated on protein met...

Zataria multiflora Boiss, known as Avishan-eShirazi in Persian, with traditional pharmacological properties take advantage of being useful medicinal plant. In this study, the chemical composition of different parts of Iranian Z. multiflora Boiss oils and also its antioxidant and antibacterial properties have been considered. The results showed that the main oil components especially thymol and ...

A wide range of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAPs) have been explored for their essential oils in the past few decades. Essential oils are complex volatile compounds, synthesized naturally in different plant parts during the process of secondary metabolism. Essential oils have great potential in the field of biomedicine as they effectively destroy several bacterial, fungal, and viral pathogen...

In the present investigation antimicrobial activity of six different plant essential oils i.e., citrus (Citrus lemon), olive (Olea europaea), ajwain (Trachiyspirum ammi), almond (Amygdalus communis), Bavchi (Psoralea corylifolia) and neem (Azadirachta indica) oils have been evaluated. After bioassays, most of the essential oils were found susceptible to both Gram-positive bacteria such as Lacto...

Rice weevil (Sitophilus oryzae L.) is a primary insect pest of stored grain. The development of resistance resulted in the application of synthetic insecticides. In recent years many plant essential oils have provided potential alternatives to currently used insect control agents. The Brazilian pepper tree (Schinus molle L. var. areira (L.) DC.) (Anacardiaceae) has different biological properti...

Background: Medicinal plants are considered new resources for producing agents that could act as alternatives to antibiotics in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antibacterial activity of 28 plant extracts and oils against four Gram-negative bacterial species.Methods: Experimental, in vitro, evaluation of the activities of 28 plant extract...

Esters of plant oils are preferred to parent oils if used as fuels in diesel engines because esterification reduces the viscosity of plant oils and makes it comparable to that of diesel. The present work mainly deals with the effect of storage time on the quality of plant oils and their esters with respect to mainly FFA content, viscosity and change in weight. The study was carried out for a pe...