24 September, 2008

Antioxidant and Aromatic Medical Plant

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Since time immemorial man has been using plant extracts to protect himself against several diseases and also to improve his health and life-style. No doubt, plants are serving several purposes whether health, nutrition, beauty or medicinal. With the development in techniques and recent researches, it has been proved that certain non-nutritive chemicals in plants such as terpenoids and flavonoids which were earlier thought to be of no importance to human diet, possess antioxidant properties.
The plants are susceptible to damage caused by active oxygen and thus develop numerous antioxidant defense system resulting in formation of numerous potent antioxidants. Many aromatic, medicinal and spice plants contain compounds that possess confirmed strong antioxidative components. The essential oils derived from aromatic plants not only serve as fragrance and flavour agents but also as dietary antioxidant expected to prevent several diseases caused by free radicals.
The essential oils are the secondary metabolites of the aromatic plants which include  the fragrant material extracted from the root, bark, wood, seed, fruit, leaf or flower of a single plant. Essential oils are extracted from the plants by various methods such as distillation (steam distillation, hydro distillation or hydro-steam distillation), mechanical compression, expression or solvent extraction etc. due to their volatile nature. These oils are very potent containing the odour, taste, and medicinal properties of the plant in concentrated form. The therapeutic properties of essential oils are utilized in massage, inhalation, diffusers, fresheners etc. The recent researches have also proved that these can also be used as antioxidants in order to protect our body from various disastrous and chronic diseases, like cancer, arthritis, common cold cough, cataracts etc. which weaken the immune system of the body.
This article aims to focus on aromatic and medicinal plant molecules used as antioxidants and their behaviour to prevent the different disorders on human health and life style.

 

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