The importance of antioxidant action of essential oils in benefit of health / A importância da ação antioxidante de óleos essenciais em beneficio da saúde

Abstract

Currently the essential oils have been highlighted as promising sources of relevant natural products for drug and cosmetic use because they are rich classes of secondary metabolites that confer antioxidant activity to these oils. Antioxidants are responsible for the health benefit neutralizing the actions of radical species that cause cancer, skin aging and cardiovascular disease. The research aimed to conduct a survey on the importance of antioxidant present in the essential oils in promoting the health benefits. Research was conducted by collecting information on antioxidant action of essential oils in articles of scientific databases indexed in the Scielo, Google academic and Periodical Portal. So, it was possible to realize that the literature indicates that the extraction of essential oil plants has become critical to health due to the presence of substances such as phenolic compounds with antioxidant properties that neutralize or slow the rate of oxidative reactions that occur in the organism, inhibiting the action of oxidizing species, preventing the onset of diseases and contributing to greater longevity. So, it is apparent the importance of researching and discovering new natural products such as essential oils from plants containing substances in their composition with primary antioxidant potential for health promotion against oxidative radical damage.

Keywords

• Essential Oils
• Antioxidant
• Radicals