Prospects of Essential Oils in Drug Discovery

Abstract

Essential oils (EO), according to the International Standard Organization (ISO) defines essential oil as the product obtained from parts of plants by distillation with water steam and the product obtained by expression from pericarp of medicinal plant. The rapid growth and increase of the knowledge of identification, extraction, purification and characterization of essential oils in most local plant species is fast becoming an important aspect of the drug production process. Despite the complex nature of the essential oils in most plants in nature, it has significant impact in field of Medicine, Pharmacy and Aromatherapy. This work therefore reviews selected plants containing essential oils that are of importance to the drug discovery process. Issues concerning efficient screening of essential oils and implementation into drug discovery were discussed as well.