A mini-review on the safety profile of essential oils

Abstract

Essential oils (EOs) are defined as secondary metabolites of plants that are volatile in nature and synthesized by various parts of plants such as buds, trichomes, bark, leaves, flowers, twigs, etc. They are generally extracted through steam and hydro distillation processes. The chemistry of these essential oils is very complex and mainly consists of terpenes and their oxygenated derivatives. The color, aroma, volatility, lipophilicity are some of the salient features of these essential oils. Primarily, they are used for flavoring purposes, but with the advancement in science and scientific tools, many properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory were explored by the scientific community. Their role as natural food preservatives has evolved in recent years, like biofilms and nano encapsulation in the active packaging of food products. The pharmaceutical industries also look at these essential oils as one of the potent candidates in ameliorating various ailments. The significant components of many essential oils such as piperine of pepper family, eugenol, thymoquinone, curcuminoids were found to have promising therapeutic effects and provide wider research scope for pharmaceutical industries. Besides all these applications, the safety profiling of these EOs is a matter of concern. This mini-review documented the updated published data related to the various aspects related to toxicity and safety issues of EOs.