Production of Essential Oils
K. Hüsnü Can Başer, Gerhard Buchbauer in Handbook of Essential Oils, 2020
Hydrolysis of esters to alcohols and acids can occur during steam distillation. This can have serious implications in the case of ester-rich oils, and special precautions have to be taken to prevent or at least to limit the extent of ester degradation. The most important examples of this are lavender or lavandin oils rich in linalyl acetate and cardamom oil rich in α-terpinyl acetate. Chamazulene, a blue bicyclic sesquiterpene, present in the steam-distilled oil of German chamomile, Chamomilla recutita (L.) Rauschert, flower heads, is an artifact resulting from matricin by a complex series of chemical reactions: dehydrogenation, dehydration, and ester hydrolysis. As chamazulene is not a particularly stable compound, the deep-blue color of the oil can change to green and even yellow on aging.
Atlas of Autofluorescence in Plant Pharmaceutical Materials
Victoria Vladimirovna Roshchina in Fluorescence of Living Plant Cells for Phytomedicine Preparations, 2020
Common yarrow, Achillea millefolium, is usually used in medicine as a blood-stopping natural hemostatic drug for any bleeding and in compositions to care for gastritis and inflammation of the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract (Duke 2002; Golovkin et al. 2001; Murav’eva et al. 2007; Yilmaz et al. 2019). Moreover, this species is widely used as a styptic for bleeding and hemorrhoids (Mashkovskii 2010). The active matter is thought to be azulenes, such as chamazulenes (Konovalov 1995). Also, the leaves and inflorescences contain sesquiterpene lactones, flavonoids, alkaloids stahidrine, achillein, and others. The content varies. Often, anthocyanins are present in the plant as polymorphous species (Ustyuzhanin et al. 1987), and the azulene/anthocyanin ratio changes among subspecies, showing a linkage in the accumulation of both compounds (Bashirova et al. 2003). Chamazulene, as the predominant drug, has mainly anti-inflammatory and antiallergic features (Jung et al. 1949). In flower brackets with red or rose petals, there is a greater yield of chamazulene (Ustyuzhanin et al. 1987). It is supposed that the main mechanism of its action consists in the inhibition of lipid peroxidation and participation in radical processes (Rekka et al. 1996, 2002), proazulenes and azulenes have padioprotectory activity (Roshchina et al. 1998b).
Nutraceutical Components in the Treatment of Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis
Siba P. Raychaudhuri, Smriti K. Raychaudhuri, Debasis Bagchi in Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis, 2017
Matricaria recutita is commonly known as chamomile. Chamomile flowers have a long therapeutic practice in treating gastrointestinal disorders. The reason for its use in psoriasis is that chamazulene is a by-product of the nonvolatile oil extract (matricin), which is known to have an anti-inflammation function by inhibiting lipoxygenase activity and consequently leukotriene B4 production, which induces recruitment and activation of neutrophils, monocytes, and eosinophils and is able to induce the adhesion and activation of leukocytes on the endothelium, allowing them to bind to and cross into the tissue. There is proof that supports the role of elevated leukotriene B4 formation in psoriatic plaques. Chamomile oil also has antimicrobial activity against skin pathogens. The flavonoids quercetin and apigenin are also active components of the chamomile flower. Quercetin is mentioned to be a potential inhibitor of lipoxygenase and, to a lesser extent, cyclooxygenase, which shows a good skin-piercing property (Murti et al., 2012).
Evaluation of chamomile oil and nanoemulgels as a promising treatment option for atopic dermatitis induced in rats
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2020
Noha S. El-Salamouni, Mai M. Ali, Sherien A. Abdelhady, Lamia S. Kandil, Gihan A. Elbatouti, Ragwa M. Farid
Nowadays aromatherapy is one of the increasingly used complementary therapies. Essential oils are major therapeutic agents used to treat several diseases, representing a major class of interest in drug research [9]. German chamomile (Matricaria chamomilla), belonging to the family Asteraceae, has been used as herbal medication since ancient times. Chamomile is widely used to treat skin inflammations and various bacterial skin infections, for its anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, mild astringent, and healing potential [10]. The pharmacological activity of German chamomile is associated with its essential oil and flavonoid content. The principal anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic constituents of chamomile oil (CM) are matricin, chamazulene, ɑ-bisabolol, and its oxides A and B [11].
The effect of chamomile extract obtained in supercritical carbon dioxide conditions on physicochemical and usable properties of pharmaceutical ointments
Published in Pharmaceutical Development and Technology, 2018
Emilia Klimaszewska, Artur Seweryn, Anna Małysa, Małgorzata Zięba, Joanna Lipińska
Plant ingredients are commonly used in the pharmaceutical (Eshun & He 2004, p. 91; Srivastava et al. 2010, p. 895; Singh et al. 2011, p. 82), cosmetic (Kole et al. 2005, p. 315; Khan & Abourashed 2010, p. 657; Herman et al. 2013, p. 232; Sikora et al. 2015, p. 574; Klimaszewska et al. 2016, p. 1000), household chemicals (Gambogi et al. 2006, p. 171; Sikora et al. 2015, p. 574; Wasilewski & Seweryn 2016, p. 778; Wasilewski et al. 2016a, p. 368; 2016b, p. 114; 2016c, p. 1315) and food industries (Eshun & He 2004, p. 91; Khan & Abourashed 2010, p. 657) due to their natural abundance. One example is wild chamomile which is known to have a wide spectrum of pharmacological and therapeutic activities (Singh et al. 2011, p. 82). Among other valuable ingredients, chamomile extracts contain alpha-bisabolol (Avonto et al. 2013, p. 1848). The role of the compound in pharmacological and physiological processes is summarized in studies by Kamatou and Viljoen (2010, p. 1). Alpha-bisabolol exhibits anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antibacterial and anticancer effects. In addition, high levels of alpha-bisabolol in chamomile are responsible for increasing transcutaneous drug penetration. Safayhi et al. (1994, p. 410) showed chamazulene to be another important ingredient of wild chamomile. Chamazulene may contribute to the anti-inflammatory effect induced by chamomile by inhibiting the synthesis of leukotrienes and producing additional antioxidative activity. Other valuable active ingredients found in chamomile extracts include polyphenols, polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid) and mineral salts (Scalia et al. 1999, p. 549; Cushnie & Lamb 2005, p. 343; Orav et al. 2010, p. 48).
Essential oils from Artemisia species inhibit biofilm formation and the virulence of Escherichia coli EPEC 2348/69
Published in Biofouling, 2021
Ahmed Mathlouthi, Nabil Saadaoui, Mossadok Ben-Attia
For the oil of A. absinthium, a yield of 0.27% was obtained, which was in accordance with data obtained from the literature (Stefkov et al. 2011). The chemical components obtained from A. absinthium were oxygenated monoterpenes (45.09%) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (39.21%). This essential oil had a low content of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (2.52%). The major constituents were chamazulene (39.21%), camphor (21.12%), bornyl acetate (13.84%) and chrysanthenyl acetate (9.08%). Chamazulene (the main constituent for A. absinthium) was the only representative of the oxygenated sesquiterpenes group.
Related Knowledge Centers
- Achillea Millefolium
- Aromaticity
- Azulene
- Biosynthesis
- Cyp1A2
- In Vivo
- Matricaria Chamomilla
- Sesquiterpene
- Artemisia Absinthium
- Matricin