Study of Essential Oils Obtained from Tropical Plants Grown in Colombia

Abstract

Researchers from several Colombian universities have joined efforts for over 15 years to characterize the composition and biological properties of more than a thousand samples of essential oils (EOs) obtained from aromatic plants collected during at least 30 botanical outings in different regions of Colombia. This chapter presents a brief description of essential oil extraction and chemical characterization techniques, followed by a representative list of references to publications on EO composition obtained from tropical aromatic plants that grow in Colombia. Opportunities for the development of interesting products for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, hygiene, and food industries are illustrated with a few selected works on the evaluation of cytotoxicity, antioxidant, antiviral, antigenotoxic activities, and repellence of these essential oils.

Sensibilidad de Phytophthora infestans a extractos acuosos de Lippia origanoides y Origanum vulgare

“…Existió actividad antifúngica por parte de los extractos acuosos evaluados frente a P. infestans en condiciones in vitro, por esta razón se consideraron como potenciales biofungicidas para el control de la enfermedad conocida como tizón tardío de la papa. Adicionalmente, es importante resaltar que la especie L. origanoides es una planta de fácil establecimiento que se encuentra en estado silvestre en el norte de Sur América y América Central (Stashenko & Martínez, 2019), la cual presenta una alta actividad biológica en varios campos de estudio y que se encuentra distribuida en varios departamentos de Colombia, sin embargo, este tipo de plantas requiere que se desarrollen planes para su producción masiva y estudios que permitan evaluar el comportamiento a nivel in planta y en campo para determinar su eficacia, fitotoxicidad y residualidad, con el fin de proponer productos adecuados para una producción limpia.…”

Photoprotective Agents Obtained from Aromatic Plants Grown in Colombia: Total Phenolic Content, Antioxidant Activity, and Assessment of Cytotoxic Potential in Cancer Cell Lines of Cymbopogon flexuosus L. and Tagetes lucida Cav. Essential Oils

“…Many aromatic species from the Asteraceae, Annonaceae, Lamiaceae, Poaceae, Rutaceae, Verbenaceae, and Zingiberaceae families grown in Colombia have important potential for the discovery of biologically active substances [1,2], because they produce endogenous antioxidants necessary for the neutralization of reactive oxygen species (ROS), including phenolics, flavonoids, anthocyanidins and anthocyanins, phenylpropanoids, stilbenes, terpenes and terpenoids, steroids, lignans, carotenoids, and essential oils (EOs) [3][4][5]. All these compounds play a significant role as defense mechanisms against infections and as a means of survival in an adverse environmental climate, e.g., in an environment rich in solar radiation [6].…”

“…All these compounds play a significant role as defense mechanisms against infections and as a means of survival in an adverse environmental climate, e.g., in an environment rich in solar radiation [6]. Among the various plant-derived natural products, EOs are of great relevance because they can be used as active ingredients with health-improving properties when they are employed in the phytopharmaceutical and food industries [2,7,8].…”

“…Currently, the cosmeceutical potential of EOs is being evaluated by the scientific community worldwide due to the need to find photoprotective agents that can be incorporated into sunscreen formulations to combat skin aging caused by UV radiation [30][31][32]. In this sense, the diversity of Colombian flora could be a rich source of these resources globally due to the privileged geographical position with sufficient natural resources and water, which makes it the second most biodiverse country after Brazil [2]. The addition of EOs to final products provides added value to cosmeceuticals due to the antioxidant properties of their chemical constituents; therefore, these components might be used as a complement to solar filters to reduce the oxidative stress produced by UV radiation [27], as well as by their anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antiaging, and anticancer properties [33].…”

Molecular Human Targets of Bioactive Alkaloid-Type Compounds from Tabernaemontana cymose Jacq.

“…Colombia is the most biodiverse country in the world in proportion to its territorial area; a decade ago, it was considered that in the country there were around 50,000 plant species, however, recent studies have shown that the real range figures between 29,000 and 31,000 species [ 7 ]. Despite the richness of Colombian flora, a small number of species has been studied in order to discover their pharmacological characteristics and chemical composition [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. Studies of natural products from plants have led to the discovery of widely used drugs, and it is considered that 52% of new molecules approved since 1981 for disease treatment are natural products or derived from these molecules [ 12 ].…”