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Chemical Composition and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Essential Oils
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Chemical Composition and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Essential Oils

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 July 2025 | Viewed by 6093

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Gianfranco Fontana

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Biological, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, Università degli Studi di Palermo, I-90128 Palermo, Italy
Interests: natural product chemistry; triterpenes; semisynthesis of bioactive compounds

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The plant kingdom is the main source of chemical diversity from which thousands of organic compounds are produced, including the components of essential oils.

Nature remains the more efficient and imaginative “synthetic chemist”, and this impressive mass of chemical diversity is the ground for the development of a potentially infinite number of new applications in the context of agriculture, food science and pharmacology, without neglecting the very interesting application of plant essential oils in human health chemoprevention. The control of general and local inflammation has a key role in the chemo-preventive action of plant products toward several pathologies, and essential oil research is playing a key role in this context.

The isolation and the chemical characterization of essential oils from plant species remains a fascinating challenge for natural product researchers.

The present Special Issue will mainly address, but not exclusively, the more recent results concerning new applications related to the anti-inflammatory activity of essential oils and the investigation of the mechanism of action of the whole complex mixture, as well as of the pure components both at post-transcriptional and post-translational levels. A clarification of the well-known synergistic paradigm, i.e., the entire essential oil being more effective than its pure main components, is strongly welcome.

Dr. Gianfranco Fontana
Guest Editor

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • essential oils
  • anti-inflammatory activity
  • chemo-prevention
  • natural products
  • inflammation cascade

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 2300 KiB  
Article
Lavandula pedunculata subsp. atlantica: A Multifunctional Essential Oil for Potentially Combating Microbial Infections and Inflammatory Processes
by Giusy Castagliuolo, Natale Badalamenti, Vincenzo Ilardi, Gianfranco Fontana, Dario Antonini, Mario Varcamonti, Maurizio Bruno and Anna Zanfardino
Molecules 2025, 30(11), 2267; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30112267 - 22 May 2025
Viewed by 63
Abstract
The genus Lavandula L., belonging to the Lamiaceae family, contains about forty species with a distribution that mainly extends in the Mediterranean basin from the North Atlantic to the Middle East. Due to their excellent biological properties, the aerial parts and flowers of [...] Read more.
The genus Lavandula L., belonging to the Lamiaceae family, contains about forty species with a distribution that mainly extends in the Mediterranean basin from the North Atlantic to the Middle East. Due to their excellent biological properties, the aerial parts and flowers of Lavandula peduncolata ssp. have been utilized in traditional medicine in Morocco and western Europe. This paper investigated the chemical composition and antibacterial activities as well as the antibiofilm and antioxidant activities of the essential oil (EO) obtained from the pre-flowering aerial parts of Lavandula pedunculata subsp. atlantica collected in Morocco. The chemical composition of the EO, obtained by classic hydrodistillation, showed by GC-MS analysis the presence of a large amount of oxygenated monoterpene compounds. The main constituents of the EO were camphor (27.8%), camphene (10.9%), fenchone (10.6%), and eucalyptol (8.5%). The EO has been evaluated for its antimicrobial, antibiofilm, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, showing promising activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative strains. These findings highlight the potential of Lavandula EO in combating infections caused by Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus oralis (oral diseases), Staphylococcus aureus (skin infections), Escherichia coli and Shigella sonnei (gastrointestinal and urinary infections). In addition, although the EO showed no evident effects on cell viability in eukaryotic epithelial cells, it exhibited promising effects on anti-inflammatory properties. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Composition and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Essential Oils)
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17 pages, 4602 KiB  
Article
Elicited Production of Essential Oil with Immunomodulatory Activity in Salvia apiana Microshoot Culture
by Agata Krol, Adam Kokotkiewicz, Bozena Zabiegala, Klaudia Ciesielska-Figlon, Ewa Bryl, Jacek Maciej Witkowski, Adam Bucinski and Maria Luczkiewicz
Molecules 2025, 30(4), 815; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30040815 - 10 Feb 2025
Viewed by 752
Abstract
Salvia apiana Jepson is an endemic North American species characterized by a rich phytochemical profile including abietane-type diterpenoids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and thujone-free essential oil (EO). The current study was aimed at increasing EO production in bioreactor-grown S. apiana microshoot culture through biotic [...] Read more.
Salvia apiana Jepson is an endemic North American species characterized by a rich phytochemical profile including abietane-type diterpenoids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, and thujone-free essential oil (EO). The current study was aimed at increasing EO production in bioreactor-grown S. apiana microshoot culture through biotic elicitation using chitosan, ergosterol, and yeast extract (YE). Additionally, the immunomodulatory effects of the major volatile constituent of white sage—1,8-cineole—as well as EOs obtained from both S. apiana microshoots and leaves of field-grown plants, were assessed. EOs were isolated via hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC/MS and GC/FID. Biological assays included flow cytometric evaluation of the proliferation and apoptosis rates of human CD4 and CD8 T lymphocytes, obtained from healthy volunteers and subjected to different concentrations of EOs and 1,8-cineole. Elicitation with 100 mg/L YE improved the production of EO in S. apiana microshoots by 9.4% (1.20% v/m). EOs from both microshoots and leaves of field-grown plants, as well as 1,8-cineole, demonstrated dose-dependent anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effects on CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. These findings highlight the potential of S. apiana microshoot cultures capable of producing EO with significant immunomodulatory activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Composition and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Essential Oils)
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19 pages, 4973 KiB  
Article
Turmeric–Black Cumin Essential Oils and Their Capacity to Attenuate Free Radicals, Protein Denaturation, and Cancer Proliferation
by Ayodeji Oluwabunmi Oriola
Molecules 2024, 29(15), 3523; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29153523 - 26 Jul 2024
Viewed by 2698
Abstract
Turmeric rhizomes (Curcuma longa) and black cumin seeds (Nigella sativa) are polyherbal ingredients used for the management of cancer and other chronic inflammatory diseases in Nigerian ethnomedicine. Previous studies have shown the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities of the [...] Read more.
Turmeric rhizomes (Curcuma longa) and black cumin seeds (Nigella sativa) are polyherbal ingredients used for the management of cancer and other chronic inflammatory diseases in Nigerian ethnomedicine. Previous studies have shown the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer activities of the individual plant extracts. However, the two spices have not been biologically potentiated in their combined form. Therefore, this study obtained essential oils (EOs) from the combined spices and evaluated their inhibitory effects on free radicals, protein denaturation, and cancer proliferation. The EOs were extracted by hydro-distillation (HD) and characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In vitro antioxidant assessment was conducted based on DPPH, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), nitric oxide (NO), and ferric ion (Fe3+) radical scavenging assays. The cytotoxicity of the oil against non-tumorigenic (HEK293) and cancerous (HepG2 and HeLa) cell lines was determined following the MTT cell viability assay. An in silico molecular docking analysis of the oil constituents was also performed. Six batches of EOs I–VI were afforded, comprising twenty-two major constituents, with aromatic Ar-turmerone being the most prominent compound. There was a marked improvement in the bioactivity of the oils upon repeated HD and as a combination. The batch VI oil exhibited the best activity, with a cytotoxicity (CC50) of 10.16 ± 1.69 µg/100 µL against the HepG2 cell line, which was comparable to 5-fluorouracil (standard, CC50 = 8.59 ± 1.33 µg/100 µL). In silico molecular docking suggested δ-curcumene, Ar-curcumene, Ar-turmerol, and Ar-turmerone among the promising compounds based on their high binding energy scores with NOX2, NF-κB, and mdm2 proteins. In conclusion, the oils from the turmeric–black cumin combined possess a considerable inhibition ability against free radicals, protein denaturation, and cancer proliferation. This study’s findings further underscore the effectiveness of turmeric–black cumin as a polyherbal medicinal ingredient. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Composition and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Essential Oils)
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Review

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14 pages, 2523 KiB  
Review
A Comparative Review of Eugenol and Citral Anticandidal Mechanisms: Partners in Crimes Against Fungi
by Zinnat Shahina and Tanya E. S. Dahms
Molecules 2024, 29(23), 5536; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules29235536 - 23 Nov 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1918
Abstract
Candida albicans is an emerging multidrug-resistant opportunistic pathogen that causes candidiasis, superficial infections on the mucosa, nails or skin, and life-threatening candidemia in deep tissue when disseminated through the bloodstream. Recently, there has been a sharp rise in resistant strains, posing a considerable [...] Read more.
Candida albicans is an emerging multidrug-resistant opportunistic pathogen that causes candidiasis, superficial infections on the mucosa, nails or skin, and life-threatening candidemia in deep tissue when disseminated through the bloodstream. Recently, there has been a sharp rise in resistant strains, posing a considerable clinical challenge for the treatment of candidiasis. There has been a resurged interest in the pharmacological properties of essential oils and their active components, for example, monoterpenes with alcohol (-OH) and aldehyde (-CHO) groups. Eugenol and citral have shown promising in vitro and in vivo activity against Candida species. Although there is substantial research on the efficacy of these essential oil components against C. albicans, a detailed knowledge of their mycological mechanisms is lacking. To explore the broad-spectrum effects of EOs, it is more meaningful and rational to study the whole essential oil, along with some of its major components. This review provides a comprehensive overview of eugenol and citral anticandidal and antivirulence activity, alone and together, along with the associated mechanisms and limitations of our current knowledge. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemical Composition and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of Essential Oils)
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