Advance in main functional ingredients and mechanism of anticancer plant essential oils
10.7501/j.issn.0253-2670.2017.06.030
- Author:
Li-Yun ZHU
1
Author Information
1. National & Local United Engineering Lab of Quality Controlling Technology and Instrumentation for Marine Food, China Jiliang University
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Anticancer activity;
Citral;
Eugenol;
Limonene;
Menthol;
Patchouli alcohol;
Plant essential oils;
Thymol;
β- caryophyllene;
β-elemene
- From:
Chinese Traditional and Herbal Drugs
2017;48(6):1229-1239
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Cancer is a serious threat to human health with a high fatality rate. Modern anticancer methods, including surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, commonly have more serious side effects. Anticancer plant essential oils which now attach great importance to cancer treatment, have many advantages such as multi-target, multi-effect, low adverse reaction, improving the body immunity, not easy to produce drug resistance, etc. The main active ingredients and the anticancer mechanism of essential oils were reviewed in this paper. Nineteen kinds of plant essential oils, including Cymbopogon flexuosus, Salvia officinalis, Lycopus lucidus, Lavandula angustifolia, Smyrnium olusatrum, peel of Citrus reticulate, leaves of Myrica rubra, and so on, displayed their prominent anti-cancer activities. Specifically, limonene, β-elemene, menthol, patchouli alcohol, thymol, eugenol, citral, β-caryophyllene, and their oxide may be the main anticancer composition of plant essential oils.
