No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The aim of this work was to determine the chemical composition of essential oil from aerial partsof Mentha arvensis L. f. piperascens (MAO) and to evaluate the effect of its fragrant chemicals on electroencephalographic (EEG) activity of human brain. The MAO was obtained by supercritical CO2 extraction. The maximum yield was 2.38% at conditions of 70ºC and 200 bar. There were 32 volatile chemicals with 6 alcohols (67.11%), 13 hydrocarbons (17.05%), 9 esters (11.50%), 2 ketones (7.16%), 1 oxide (2.77%), and 1 aldehyde (0.56%). The major components were (Z,Z,Z)-9,12,15-octadecatrien-1-ol (50.06%), 2-hydroxy-4-methoxyacetophenone (7.50%), and 3,4-dihydro-8-hydroxy-3-methyl-1H-2-benzopyran-1-one (6.60%). Results of the EEG study showed that inhalation of MAO significantly changed the EEG power spectrum values of relative gamma, relative fast alpha, and spectral edge frequency 90%. During the inhalation of MAO, the value of relative fast alpha was significantly increased (p<0.05). On the other hand, the values of gamma and the spectral edge frequency 90% were significantly decreased (p<0.05). The present study suggests that fragrant chemicals of essential oil of M. arvensis reduce the level of mental stress and that they could be used in the treatment of psychophysiological disorders.

Essential oils have been used to treat psychophysiological disorders, but their effects on human electroencephalographic (EEG) activity have not been thoroughly investigated. We evaluated the effects of essential oil of Zizyphus jujuba seeds, a Korean folk medicine known as San-Jo-In, on human EEG activity. For this purpose, essential oil was extracted from San-Jo-In by the supercritical carbon dioxide extraction method. The effect of its inhalation on EEG activity was evaluated by measuring the EEG power spectrum (25 indices) in 20 healthy participants. The results of the EEG power spectrum indicated that the values of the theta wave decreased significantly (p<0.05) in the left (from 17.277 to 13.854 µV) and right parietal (from 15.324 to 13.020 µV) regions compared to the other regions. During the inhalation of San-Jo-In oil, the EEG spectrum values of fast alpha, relative gamma, and spectral edge frequency increased 50% compared to those before inhalation. The values of the fast alpha wave increased significantly (p<0.05) in the left prefrontal (from 0.063 to 0.085 µV), right prefrontal (from 0.064 to 0.085 µV), and left frontal (from 0.073 to 0.100 µV) regions following inhalation of the San-Jo-In essential oil. The changes in the EEG activities following inhalation of San-Jo-In suggest that the oil can improve psychological well-being by increasing attention and relaxation.