ABSTRACT Essential oils are products obtained from plants, by steam distillation, mechanical processes of citrus fruit epicarp, or dry distillation after separation of the aqueous phase by physical processes. They are usually composed of secondary metabolites of aromatic plants with oxygenated structures such as alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, and esters, presenting therapeutic properties such as antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant activities. Essential oils are used in the pharmaceutical, food, and fragrance industries. The increasing use of plants by the pharmaceutical industry makes the study of essential oils crucial to design new bioactive delivery systems. This paper presents aliterature review that summarizes the best advanced data regarding the use of essential oils and their volatile constituents for biomedical applications with focuses on innovative pharmaceutical formulations. Nonetheless, it seems clear that more clinical evaluations are required until essential oils can be considered as possible applications in pharmacy or as adjuvants to current medications.

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精油作为潜在治疗剂的进展：综述

摘要精油是从植物中获得的产品，通过蒸汽蒸馏，柑橘类水果外果皮的机械过程，或通过物理过程分离水相后的干馏。它们通常由芳香族植物的次级代谢产物组成，具有含氧结构，如醇、酮、醛和酯，具有抗菌、抗真菌和抗氧化活性等治疗特性。精油用于制药、食品和香料行业。制药行业越来越多地使用植物，使得精油研究对于设计新的生物活性传递系统至关重要。本文介绍了文献综述，总结了有关将精油及其挥发性成分用于生物医学应用的最佳先进数据，重点是创新药物配方。尽管如此，似乎需要更多的临床评估，直到精油被视为可能在药学中的应用或作为当前药物的佐剂。