Environmentally friendly plant essential oil: Liquid gold for human health

Abstract Plant essential oil (PEO) is extracted from various parts of plants. PEO contains various bioactive components that are nearly all volatile organic compounds (VOCs) especially including terpenes, aromatic constituents, and aliphatic compounds. Plants also have an air-improving effect by releasing secondary metabolite VOCs. There is huge diversity in the PEO yield and its components, majorly impacted by plant physiological and environmental factors. The components in essential oils from different plants vary, even the plants from the same family. PEOs contain a diversity of bioactivities that are beneficial to human health, with versatile functions such as antibacterial, antioxidant, and anticancers. Because of the diverse bioactivities of PEOs, human health could be overall improved with no side effects or harsh impacts upon using PEOs. PEOs are considered to be safe and effective natural antioxidants and antibacterial agents, as well as promising candidates for treating certain cancers. With increasing research and development in component separation and purification technology, additional new PEOs will be discovered, and new functions of bioactive components in essential oils will be gradually revealed, which will result in additional biomedicinal products and tremendous potentials for human health.