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Terpenes or terpenoids are extracted or steam distilled for the recovery of the essential oils of specific fragrant plants. These steam distillates are used to create fine perfumes, to refine the flavor and the aroma of food and drinks, and to produce medicines from plants (phytopharmaca). In recent years, consumers have developed an increasing interest in natural products, as most of these terpenoids have been identified as high value chemicals in food, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and industrial crops. Extensive chemical techniques and biological tests have led to the identification, biological characterization, and extraction of major components that are of wide interest, especially to the cosmetic and industrial recovery of selective terpenes. The current status of the knowledge of their general structure, functions, and bioactive properties and the methods for their separation are covered in this review.

In this study, Carum carvi L. essential oil (CEO) and Origanum majorana L. essential oil (MEO) was steam-distillated under reduced pressure. We henceforth obtained three fractions for each essential oil: CF1, CF2, CF3, MF1, MF2, and MF3. Then, these fractions were characterized using the gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS) technique. The results indicated that some fractions were rich in oxygenated compounds (i.e., CF2, CF3, MF2, and MF3) with concentrations ranging from 79.21% to 98.56%. Therefore, the influence of the chemical composition of the essential oils on their antifungal activity was studied. For this purpose, three food spoilage fungi were isolated, identified, and inoculated in vitro, in order to measure the antifungal activity of CEO, MEO, and their fractions. The results showed that stronger fungi growth inhibitions (FGI) (above 95%) were found in fractions with higher percentages of oxygenated compounds, especially with (−)-carvone and terpin-4-ol as the major components. Firstly, this work reveals that the free-terpenes hydrocarbons fractions obtained from MEO present higher antifungal activity than the raw essential oil against two families of fungi. Then, it suggests that the isolation of (−)-carvone (97.15 ± 5.97%) from CEO via vacuum distillation can be employed successfully to improve antifungal activity by killing fungi (FGI = 100%). This study highlights that separation under reduced pressure is a simple green method to obtain fractions or to isolate compounds with higher biological activity useful for pharmaceutical products or natural additives in formulations.

Herein, the effect of three deterpenated fractions from Origanum majorana L. essential oil on the physicochemical, mechanical and biological properties of chitosan/β-chitin nanofibers-based nanocomposite films were investigated. In general, the incorporation of Origanum majorana L. original essential oil or its deterpenated fractions increases the opacity of the nanocomposite films and gives them a yellowish color. The water solubility decreases from 58% for chitosan/β-chitin nanofibers nanocomposite film to around 32% for the nanocomposite films modified with original essential oil or its deterpenated fractions. Regarding the thermal stability, no major changes were observed, and the mechanical properties decreased. Interestingly, data show differences on the biological properties of the materials depending on the incorporated deterpenated fraction of Origanum majorana L. essential oil. The nanocomposite films prepared with the deterpenated fractions with a high concentration of oxygenated terpene derivatives show the best antifungal activity against Aspergillus niger, with fungal growth inhibition of around 85.90%. Nonetheless, the only nanocomposite film that does not present cytotoxicity on the viability of L929 fibroblast cells after 48 and 72 h is the one prepared with the fraction presenting the higher terpenic hydrocarbon content (87.92%). These results suggest that the composition of the deterpenated fraction plays an important role in determining the biological properties of the nanocomposite films.

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