Terpenes in Essential Oils: Bioactivity and Applications

Secondary metabolites from plant organisms have always been excellent options for the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries. Essential oils are a type of found in vegetables, their chemical composition is diverse; however, monoterpenes sesquiterpenes inside most abundant molecules. These terpenes diverse that range simple molecule with carbon hydrogen to more complex molecules oxygenated organic groups, such as alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, ethers. Many these 10 15 atoms an especially important biological activity, being antimicrobial, antifungal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, insecticide, analgesic, anticancer, cytotoxic, among others. Some substances potentially toxic, hence, they should be handled caution, when pure. They easily obtained by different methods, industrial value grows every year, market several million dollars. This chapter seeks provide better understanding this bioactive molecules, emphasis those whose information remarkable scientific literature health human well-being makes them extremely important.