Geraniol

Posted on July 1, 2025 by AyurvedicOils

Geraniol is a monoterpenoid with the molecular formula C₁₀H₁₈O. It is also known by other names such as lemonol, beta-geraniol and Guainol. It is a plant oil extracted from Geraniums and lemongrass.

Geraniol is the main constituent of rose oil, citronella oil and palmarosa oil. It is a phytonutrient present in lemon, bergamot, carrot, coriander, geranium oil, lavender oil, ylang ylang oil, nutmeg, orange, blueberries and black berries.

Attributes of Geraniol:

Geraniol is a pale yellow oily liquid. Pure Geraniol is a colorless liquid. It has sweet rose aroma. Because of its aroma, it is mainly used in perfumes, lotions, creams, detergents, after shave lotions and soaps and bathing products.

Due to its aroma and flavor, Geraniol is an important ingredient in a variety of consumer products made by the flavor and fragrance industries. It is used as a flavoring agent to reproduce the flavor in several fruits.

Geraniol is also used in flavors such as pineapple, peach, raspberry, grapefruit, red apple, plum, lime, orange, lemon, watermelon and blueberry. It is also used as a flavor enhancer in candies, ice creams and baked goods. . It is also used as an aroma additive in foods to enhance the smell of the foods. Thus, it serves as an important flavoring agent in food industries.

A study carried out in 1994 reported that Geraniol is listed by many cigarette manufacturing companies as one of the 599 additives that had been added to the cigarettes to improve their flavor.

The scent glands of honey bees also produce geraniol which helps them to identify the nectar bearing flowers and also the openings of their hives. Thus, geraniol attracts honeybees.

Further, it is a naturally occurring mosquito repellent that is extremely effective. It also repels a variety of insects including house flies, stable flies, horn flies, cockroaches, fire ants, fleas, gnats, dog ticks, lone star ticks, and no-see-ums.

Therapeutic attributes of Geraniol:

Geraniol serves as an analgesic to relieve the pain. It is also a topical drug enhancer. Apart from the above uses of Geraniol, it also has the following health benefits. Geraniol has antibacterial, antiseptic, anti-inflammatory properties.

As an anti-inflammatory:

Geraniol exhibits anti-inflammatory property. According to a study carried out on hamsters titled “Geraniol attenuates fibrosis and exerts anti-inflammatory effects on diet induced atherogenesis by NF-κB signaling pathway”, it had been reported that Tissue remodeling which plays an important role during the phase of inflammation and oxidative stress is greatly prevented by Geraniol by improving the free radical scavenging and anti-inflammatory effects.

As an anti-cancer agent:

Geraniol is a natural anti-oxidant and so it is useful in preventing various types of cancer. It is considered to be one of the cancer chemo preventive agents. Geraniol possess anti-cancer activities and so it inhibits the growth of destructive cancer cells in human cell cultures. Geraniol is used in the treatment of various types of cancers such as breast, lung, colon, hepatic, skin, prostrate and pancreatic cancer.

According to a study named “Geraniol, a Component of Plant Essential Oils, Inhibits Growth and Polyamine Biosynthesis in Human Colon Cancer Cells”, the effect of Geraniol on colon cancer cell was studied to find its anticancer activities and it was found that Geraniol reduced the growth of cancerous cells by 70%. It also inhibits the synthesis of DNA.

Anti-bacterial activity:

Geraniol exhibits anti-bacterial properties and so it helps to reduce the bacterial infections. According to a study titled “Microbiological Characterization of Pure Geraniol and Comparison with Bactericidal Activity of the Cinnamic Acid in Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative Bacteria”, it was found that Geraniol showed larger anti-bacterial activity against the bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella enterica..

Anti-fungal activity:

Geraniol also possesses anti-fungal properties. According to a research titled “Antifungal property of the essential oils and their constituents from Cinnamomum osmophloeum leaf against tree pathogenic fungi”, it was found that Geraniol present in Cinnamomum osmophloeum exhibited anti-fungal activity.

Further, Geraniol is a potential antifungal agent that exhibits antifungal activity against Candida albicans and non albican species of Candida. So Geraniol is used in the treatment of candida infections.

As an antiseptic:

Geraniol has strong antiseptic activity which is seven times stronger than that of phenol.

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Alpha-copaene

Posted on June 30, 2025 by AyurvedicOils

Alpha copaene is a hydrocarbon that is first extracted from the copaiba tree, copaiferalangsdorfii. It is the major constituent of the essential oils of rhizome, Piper boahmeriaefolium, leaves and resin of Canariumparvumleen, Croton Julocroton, etc.

It is also present in Angelica root and seed oil, Carrot seed and leaf oil, Basil oil, Bay leaf oil, Cananga leaf oil, Cajeput oil, Clary sage oil, Sweet orange oil, Grape fruit oil, etc.

It is a sesquiterpene hydrocarbon with the molecular formula C₁₅H₂₄. It is also referred by various other names such as copaene, aglaiene, a-copaene, (-)-a-copaene and so on.

Attributes of alpha-copaene:

It is a liquid which is colorless, clear and viscous in nature. It is characterized by a woody spicy honey aroma.

Antimicrobial activity:

In the study titled “Chemical Constituents and Evaluationof Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic Activities of Kielmeyeracoriacea Mart. & Zucc. Essential Oil” it is stated that Alpha copaene found in the inner bark essential oil of Kielmeyeracoriacea Mart. &Zucc. showed remarkable antimicrobial activity against gram positive and gram negative bacteria.

Further it was also found that the presence of high amount of sesquiterpenes namely alpha copaene, alpha-(E)-bergamotene and beta-bisabolene in the inner bark essential oil enable the oil to exhibit significant antimicrobial activity against the anaerobic bacteria Prevotellanigercens.

Anti-proliferative, antioxidant, anti-genotoxic and cytotoxic activities:

Alpha copaene possess antioxidant, cytotoxic and antigenotoxic properties. This is witnessed in the study “Cytotoxic and cytogenetic effects of α-copaene on rat neuron and N2a neuroblastoma cell lines”. In this study, the healthy neuron and N2a neuroblastoma cell cultures of a rat has been tested with alpha copaene concentrations. It was found that:

Alpha copaene significantly reduced the cell proliferation in the rat neurons and in N2a neuroblastoma cell cultures thus exhibiting anti–proliferative activity.
It increased the Total antioxidant capacity and at higher levels of concentrations, it also increased the total oxidation status in neuron N2a neuroblastoma cells, thus exhibiting antioxidant capacity.
It doesn’t show any genotoxic effect on both neurons and N2a neuroblastoma cell lines. Thus it owns antigenotoxic properties.
Mild cytotoxic effects were exhibited on N2a neuroblastoma cells.

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Eugenol

Posted on June 29, 2025 by AyurvedicOils

Eugenol is a polyprophene with the molecular formula C₁₀H₁₂O₂. It is known by various other names such as Eugenic acid, caryophillic acid and allylguaiacol.

It is the major constituent of Clove oil. Eugenol is extracted mainly from the essential oils of clove, nutmeg, cinnamon, basil and bay leaf. Clove is the rich source of Eugenol and in Clove bud oil, it exists to an extent of 80-90% and in Clove leaf oil, it is present to an extent of 82-88%.

Eugenol is also present in the plants wormwood, lemon balm, turmeric, hyssop, oregano, Japanese star anise, dill, vanilla, Bay laurel, Pimenta racemosa, greater galangal, marjoram and celery.

Attributes of Eugenol:

Eugenol is a colorless to light yellow viscous liquid and owns a strong spicy smell, which is indigenous to clove.

As a fragrant and flavoring agent:

It is used to enhance fragrances in perfumes. Eugenol is used in cosmetics as a fragrant additive and denaturants. It is also used in formulation of soaps, shampoos, moisturizers, bath products, after shave lotions, skin and hair care products. Eugenol also serves as a flavoring agent.

As a food preservative:

Clove is used as a food preservative and the ability of clove to prevent the food from spoiling is mainly due to the presence of Eugenol in it. The activity of Lactobacillus sakei and Listeria Monocytogenes present in food are greatly reduced by Eugenol.

Therapeutic uses:

Eugenol has many therapeutic uses as it exhibits anti-inflammatory, antimutagenic, antimicrobial and anti-fungal properties.

As an antiseptic and anti-inflammatory:

As Eugenol is antiseptic and anti-inflammatory, it is used in dentistry to destroy the germs and relieve the pain in teeth and gums during tooth extractions, fillings and root canal treatment. It is combined with zinc peroxide to form a filling in root canal treatment and is also used as a local anesthetic in dentistry.

According to the study titled,” Anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities of eugenol in experimental animal models”, it had been found that eugenol has anti-inflammatory and peripheral antinociceptive activities. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by carrageenan-induced paw edema tests in rats.

Anti-microbial and antifungal properties:

Eugenol possesses antimicrobial and antifungal properties and so it fights against bacteria and reduce the growth of various fungi including Candida albicans. So it is used to fight numerous fungal infections in the skin, ears and vagina. Further, it is also mainly responsible for the antifungal activity of clove oil.

According to a study named,” Eugenol (an essential oil of clove) acts as an antibacterial agent against Salmonella typhi by disrupting the cellular membrane”, the antibacterial property of Eugenol against the bacteria Salmonella typhi was evaluated. Eugenol when treated on Salmonella typhi completely inactivated the bacteria within 60 minutes of exposure.

In the study “Antimicrobial activities of Eugenol and Cinnamaldehyde against the human gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori”, it was found that Eugenol is very efficient against the bacteria Helicobacter pylori, which is responsible for gastric diseases such as gastritis, peptic ulcer and gastric malignancy.

According to the study titled “Investigation on mechanism of antifungal activity of eugenol against Trichophyton rubrum”, the antifungal activity of eugenol against Trichophyton rubrum was examined and it was found that eugenol inhibited the growth of Trichophyton rubrum, mycelia growth and conidial germination.

Thus, eugenol is effective against Trichophyton rubrum which is responsible for dermatophytosis.

Anti-cancer properties:

In the research article, “Eugenol Enhances the Chemotherapeutic Potential of Gemcitabine and Induces Anticarcinogenic and Anti-inflammatory Activity in Human Cervical Cancer Cells “, it was made clear that Eugenol exhibits anticancer properties.

Anti-ulcerogenic properties:

In the study” Preventive effect of eugenol on PAF and ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage”, the anti-ulcerogenic effect of eugenol was examined and it was found that eugenol pretreatment inhibits platelet activating factor and ethanol that were induced on Gastric ulcers. Eugenol reduces the number of ulcers and the gravity of lesions.

Anti-oxidant properties:

Eugenol is a very effective fat-soluble anti-oxidant which inhibits the fat peroxide to accumulate in red blood cells and helps the anti-oxidant enzymes of the body to act at normal level.

In the research article” Assessment of antioxidant activity of eugenol in vitro and in vivo”, the antioxidant activity of eugenol was examined and it was found that it exhibits antioxidant activity by granting protection against free radical mediated lipid peroxidation.

Prevents Cardio-vascular diseases:

Due to its strong antimicrobial properties, Eugenol is one of the efficient blood purifiers. It inhibits the abnormal clotting of blood platelets and it protects the body from cardio-vascular diseases.

Insecticide:

Eugenol serves as an insecticide to destroy pests found mainly in homes and gardens.

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