Neral

Neral is always spoken of in reference with citral which is an oil synthesized from lemon myrtle, Ocimum gratissimum, Lindera citriodora, Calypranthes parriculata, Litsea cubeba, lemongrass, Litsea citrata, petitgrain, lemon tea-tree, lime, lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon ironbark, lemon and orange.

Neral also known as citral B is an isomer of citral or lemonal, which is a mixture of terpenoids.

The compounds from citral generally have a pleasant smell and Neral has an odor that is sweet and less concentrated. Due to this effect, Neral like other citral compounds is used in perfumery, and food industry.

They also have antimicrobial and pheromonal properties and find their use in production of therapeutic drugs, and pesticides. Citral compound have also been identified for their allergen effects, to reduce the same and exploit their positive properties, citral compounds are mixed with de-sensitizing agents.

Therapeutic uses of Neral:

Neral, a constituent of lemongrass has been studied to treat conditions related to nervous disorders, menstrual problems, stomach problems, arthritis, fever and cancer as well. These effects were noticed right from the ancient times and have been in use in the Chinese cultures for ages.

When used externally the plant extract can be used to increase blood flow, treat join pains, tendinitis, athlete’s foot, sprain and cuts. In most parts of the world, Lemon grass is used to make citrus drinks that act as refreshing health boosters.

Neral exhibit powerful antibacterial effect on gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, concludes a 2011 study on the Scientific basis for the therapeutic use of Cymbopogon citratus, stapf (Lemon grass).

Carcinogenic properties of Neral in Citral:

A study was conducted to understand the effects of citral in the treatment of cancer seen in rats. The study was carried out over a period of two years and the results proved positive with the occurrence of malignant lymphoma seen in the rat.

Neral in Lemon Grass as a Caspase-3 Introducer: 

The study was conducted to understand the effects of citral as a carcinogen and it’s mode of action. It identified the effects of Neral in lemon grass as a caspase-3 Introducer in cancer cells, and the tests proved positive.

Antimicrobial properties of Neral in Lemon Grass:

The study was conducted on an extract from lemongrass. Generally, the tea made from lemon grass is used worldwide for its analgesic, antipyretic, antispasmodic, and anti-inflammatory properties.  It is also used as a sedative and diuretic as well.

The essential oil was tried on R. stolonifer and P. italicum to study its antimicrobial activities, and on Rhizopus stolonifer, and Penicillium italicum, to understand its antibacterial action.

It also shows effectiveness towards methicillin resistant fungi and bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and shows antibacterial activity greater than that of antibiotics like nalidixic acid, nitrofurantoin and ampicillin.

Numerous scientific uses of Neral in Lemon Grass:

The oil of lemon grass contains Citral b, Terpinolene, Nerol, Geranyl acetate, Geraniol, Citronellal, Citral a, Myrcene and Terpineol Methylheptenone.

A study conducted to understand the scientific uses of lemon grass proved that the plant contained therapeutic activities such as anti-diarrheal, antibacterial, antifilarial, anti-amoebic, antifungal and anti-inflammatory.

In addition to this behavior, the study proved its anti-mutagenicity, anti-malarial, antioxidant, anti-mycobacterial, hypoglycemic and neurobehavioral attributes.

Since the results proved very positive, it was suggested that extensive studies on the same be carried out.

Reference Links:

  1. Citral by Wikipedia
  2. Scientific basis for the therapeutic use of Cymbopogon citratus, stapf (Lemon grass), published in the Journal of Advanced Pharmaceutical Technology & Research
  3. Citral is a new inducer of caspase-3 in tumor cell lines by Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel published in Planta Medica Journal and PubMed

Essential Oils For New Mothers

The elegant ways of treating with Ayurvedic essential oils for the caring angels experiencing heaven on earth for the first time:

Now that the nightmare of first pregnancy have come to an end and you are living in your dream moment right?!!! Welcome to the world of wonders where you’d love to cherish every lovely moment with your prized one. Each single action of your child will make you feel like walking on a bed of roses. You’d take pleasure in looking at your little one’s yawning, smiling, thumb sucking, sleeping and even your sleepless nights would end up in leaving an eternal joy within you. Yes! This is the noble feeling of motherliness and only a mother can feel all the happiness, especially when they are new to the world of motherhood with their first child.

Apart from all these good great feelings, there are certain distressing and not so easy to confiscate gifts that pregnancy leaves behind. Few such conditions are:

  • Extra pounds on your body
  • Ugly stretch marks
  • Maternity blues or postpartum depression
  • Unfit waist line
  • Rampant hormones/Hormonal imbalances

How to get rid of these irritating forms from your body? There are numerous ways to get back to your pre-pregnancy bodies but the safest and aromatic means of curing is with the use of essential oils that have proven effects on the health conditions of new moms. Let’s have a quick look at the best ways for swift healing with the real gifts of nature:

  • Post-pregnancy weight loss: Pregnancy and weight gain is as natural as butterfly and colors. Getting back to your beautiful structure by reducing the extra pounds you gained during pregnancy involves lot of physical exercises, nutritious diet and the touch of certain mystical essential oils. Generally essential oils have a good proportion of oxygen, the regular use of which can supplement your body, detach the toxins and proffer you a hale and hearty immune system essential for balancing your weight loss. Making use of remedial essential oils with high frequency can grant you a therapeutic pat assisting loss of excess weight through its vibrational motion. Few such oils are Blue Chamomile oil, Lavender oil, Juniper oil, Rose oil, Peppermint oil, Myrrh oil, Sandalwood oil, Basil oil and Angelica oil.
  • Stretch marks: Stretch marks are often disgusting and appear on your belly, breasts, thighs and bum especially during your pregnancy and stays there after also. A gentle massage with the healing essential oils like Frankincense essential oil, Lavender oil, Mandarin oil, Orange oil and Lemongrass oil can help in tightening, uplifting, knitting and repairing your tissues and aid to recapture your beautiful and supple skin.
  • Postpartum depression: Postpartum depression also known as maternity blues, baby blues, post-pregnancy depression and postpartum blues commonly occur in new moms in the first few weeks of their delivery causing depression, anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, weepiness and frequent mood fluctuations due to hormonal imbalances. A soothing massage with Rosewood oil, Lavender essential oil, Geranium oil and Grapefruit oil along with a warm bath by adding few drops of YlangYlang essential oil, Jasmine oil or Clary Sage oil to your bath tub can help you calm your nerves, balance your hormone levels and trim down the level of depression.
  • Unfit waist line: Unfit waist line after delivery indicates the excess abdominal fat and the waist circumference put on during pregnancy. Regular massaging with natural essential oils like Cypress oil, Grapefruit oil or Grapeseed oil can aid you in getting back your waist in shape.

The eternal care and love from your partner along with these essential oils can help you go on a long way bringing up a virtuous child. Happy parenthood!

Thoughts for the day:

A baby is something you carry inside you for nine months, in your arms for three years and in your heart till the day you die.  – Mary Mason

No language can express the power and beauty and heroism of a mother’s love.Edwin H. Chapin

Reference Links:

  1. Maternity Blues from Wikipedia
  2. Essential Oils for Weight Loss from Maria’s Healing Touch
  3. Laugh In The Face of Stretch Marks from Musings of an Aromastrategist
  4. Postpartum Depression from MoonDragon’s Pregnancy Information

Tomar Seed Oil

With the botanical name Zanthoxylum armatum, the Winged Prickly Ash tree is a member of the Citrus family Rutaceae. Tomar tree is indigenous to Eastern Asia to China along the Himalayas and few other parts of India. The essential oil is extracted from the seeds of this tree through steam distillation method. The naturally spicy, warm, woody, peppery, rich and floral aroma has made its use remarkable since the pre-historic period.

Ayurvedic system of natural healing has used Tomar seeds for treating numerous health conditions including oral problems and this is the main reason why this tree has been named as Toothache tree. This is a proven fact and is in practice even in today’s contemporary living. Popular Indian Ayurvedic toothpaste like Dabur Red toothpaste has Tomar seeds for its antiseptic and odor fighting potential along with other powerful herbs like pippali, kashni, lavanga, sunthi, pudina, maricha, karpoora, and hareetaki.

Purchase Tomar Seed Oil – Wholesale – CLICK HERE

Tomar tree is also known with other popular names like Toothache tree, prickly ash, suterberry, yellow wood, tumbru, darmar, tumru, timroo, tejphal and mukthrubi. The most common synonym for Zanthoxylum armatum is Zanthoxylum alatum. Tomar seed oil is pale yellow in color with an energizing aroma for which it has been mainly used in the making of apothecary perfumes, incenses, colognes, forest notes and certain other high class floral compositions.

Traditional uses: The time-honored use of Tomar tree includes its use by various communities across the globe. The social and ethnic groups in the Uttaranchal Himalaya use Zanthoxylum armatum for medicine, food and barter.  This tree is regarded to have religious importance and magical powers. Every part of the tree including the fruits, bark, stem and fresh leaves are used for various purposes. The decoction extracted from the bark or fruits or seeds of this tree were used as a sweet-smelling tonic for treating cholera, dyspepsia and fever.

Timur fruits are used as spices, condiments, medicine and as flavoring agents for soups and many other conventional dishes. It is used as a trusted remedy for treating cough, stomach problems, common cold, toothache and fever. It is also said that the Sino-Annamites used the fruits and leaves of this tree as emmenagogue, astringent and carminative. The branches of this tree are used as a natural toothbrush. A fresh or dried Tomar fruit is kept on the affected tooth for curing toothache instantly.

Ayurvedic health benefits of Tomar Seed Oil: Ayurveda strongly believes that human beings are a part of nature and the remedy for their illness should also be from nature. Ayurvedic principles state that the universe is made up of five elements like fire, water, earth, air and ether. Human body also has these five fundamental elements as a combination of doshas or the individual body types namely vata, pitta and kapha. A healthy lifestyle and harmony with nature’s law of living aids an individual to live a long, healthy and harmonious life according to Ayurveda.

This spiritual science also states that health is a combination of physical, mental and spiritual well-being and any disease is an indication that the body is in disharmony with nature. The most stunning fact about Ayurveda is that it treats the individual as a whole instead of the disease alone. It supports this common sense science to identify the root cause of an illness and treat it naturally and prevent it in the future also.

Ayurveda states that the tree of Tomar known as Tumburu or Gandhalu in the Ayurvedic world is yet another significant gift of nature to mankind. The essential oil extracted from the seeds of this tree are said to have healing properties like antiseptic, hepatoprotective, stomachic, disinfectant, deodorant, anthelmintic and carminative.

Effectiveness in treating hepatic diseases: Human liver is the major organ for governing the process of metabolism, excretion and certain other physiologic activities of the body. The most common disorder that affects the liver is hepatic diseases. Such hepatic damages are mainly due to toxins in the food, pharmaceuticals like CNS active agents and antibiotics, peroxides in edible oils, hepatotoxic chemicals like alcohol and certain other environmental pollutants. Ayurvedic medication has explored numerous natural remedies for treating liver diseases, which are still in use in many parts of India since centuries. When compared to modern medications like immunosuppressive agents and corticosteroids, these natural Ayurvedic remedies are claimed to grant better relief in a longer run.

Tomar seed oil is said to possess antioxidant properties and it also contains phenolic compounds. It is a proven fact that plants that contain antioxidant property is also said to exhibit hepatoprotective action. A renowned study on ‘Hepatoprotective Effect of Zanthoxylum armatum DC’ proved that the presence of ethanolic extracts in Zanthoxylum armatum showed hepatoprotective effect against liver damage by regularizing the increased levels of the hepatic enzymes and showed shielding effect on the plasma membrane of hepatocytes. This proved the effectiveness of using this herb in Ayurvedic treatment for liver disorders.

Natural insecticide: The essential oil of Tomar seeds yielded nearly 28 compounds and the major ones being monoterpenes and oxygenated monoterpenes. This oil also showed antifungal properties against 24 different fungi. It also exhibited repellent and larvicidal activity against three mosquito vectors, proving it as an effective natural alternative to chemical larvicides.

Other health benefits: This oil was trusted to give warmness to the body and was recommended for treating ailments like rheumatism, bronchitis, indigestion, asthma, varicose veins, toothaches and cholera. It was also proved that Zanthoxylum armatum showed spasmolytic effects that make it a natural remedy for treating cardiovascular, respiratory and gastrointestinal disorders. Another research published in PubMed evidenced the antioxidant, antifungal, antiaflatoxin activity of this essential oil. Tomar seed oil has also been used as a gentle massage oil blended with carrier oils like coconut oil to treat fibrositis, rheumatism, leg cramps, varicose veins and certain other skin problems. It is also said to stimulate the mucous membranes, lymphatic system and promote blood circulation.

Disclaimer: All essential oils are highly concentrated liquids and applying them directly on your skin or taking it internally is not advisable unless and otherwise recommended by your Ayurvedic practitioner as per your health conditions.

Thought for the day:

Nature goes her own way, and all that to us seems an exception is really according to order. – Goethe

Suggested Reading:

  1. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Essential Oils: The Complete Guide to the Use of Oils in Aromatherapy & Herbalism by Julia Lawless
  2. The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy: Over 600 Natural, Non-Toxic and Fragrant Recipes to Create Health – Beauty – a Safe Home Environment by Valerie Ann Worwood
  3. The Aromatherapy Bible: The Definitive Guide to Using Essential Oils by Gill Farrer-Halls

Reference Links:

  1. Traditional Uses and Conservation of Timur (Zanthoxylum armatum DC.) through Social Institutions in Uttaranchal Himalaya, India by Conservation & Society Journal
  2. Hepatoprotective Effect of Zanthoxylum armatum DC by the Institute of Pharmacy and Emerging Science
  3. Safety assessment of Zanthoxylum alatum Roxb. essential oil, its antifungal, antiaflatoxin, antioxidant activity and efficacy as antimicrobial in preservation of Piper nigrum L. fruits by PubMed
  4. Chemical composition and larvicidal activities of the essential oil of Zanthoxylum armatum DC (Rutaceae) against three mosquito vectors by National Institute of Malaria Research