Biological and pharmaceutical properties of essential oils of Rosmarinus officinalis L. and Lavandula officinalis L

Abstract Essential oils extracted from aromatic and medicinal plants have been known since antiquity for their biological, antibacterial, antifungal, and cosmetic properties. Most essential oils consist in their majority of a complex mixture of monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, alcohols, esters, aldehydes, oxides, etc… Essential oils generally manifest pharmaceutical properties: they are antiseptic, digestive stimulator, antispasmodic, or neuro-sedative. In this work, we found that essential oils of Lavandula officinalis L. and Rosmanirus Officinalis L. are widely used in the cosmetics and perfumery industry and also aromatherapy, in particular by therapeutic techniques such as massage, inhalation, or bath. The principal chemotypes of Rosmarinus officinalis are as follow: α-pinene, Camphene, 1,8-cineole, Camphor, Borneol, α-terpineol, and β-caryophyllene. About the chemotypes of Lavandula officinalis we had Linalool, 1,8-cineole, Camphor, Linalyl acetate, Borneol, α-Terpineol. They are also used as ingredients in the pharmaceutical industry to flavor oral forms, to perfume dermo-pharmaceutical preparations, and to ensure the preservation of pharmaceutical forms.