ESSENTIAL OILS AND NEURODEGENERATIVE DISEASES: CURRENT DATA AND FUTURE PERSPECTIVES

摘要

This review article aims to present the research that has been done over the past few years on the potential therapeutic role of essential oils on neurodegenerative diseases. Some general information on the plants is given, along with the basic features of the most important neurodegenerative diseases. After an extend database research, a number of either original papers or review articles dealing with the antioxidant and radical scavenging activity of the essential oils was revealed; papers have been evaluated and the most recent and representative have been chosen and are presented in this review. As expected, the essential oils that have been chosen possess antioxidant and radical scavenging activities. Research reveals to an extent their ability to act as antioxidants and radical scavengers. It is obvious that more research is needed for the potential therapeutic role of the eight essential oils to be better understood and specified. What is certain is that it is a promising field for further study.