Holistic Health Articles and Research Related to Herbal Medicines, Foods and Phytochemicals : Phytochemicals

Sunday, 10 November 2013

Phytochemicals - 10 Health Benefits of Carvacrol

Carvacrol, a phytochemical of monophenols, found in t in the essential oil of thyme, pepperwort, and wild bergamot. It is best known for its inhibition of the growth of several bacteria strains, includingEscherichia coli[5] and Bacillus cereus.

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Health benefits
1. Anti cancer effect
In the research of isolated from N. sativa, including thymoquinone, thymohydroquinone, dithymoquinone, thymol, carvacrol, nigellimine-N-oxide, nigellicine, nigellidine and alpha-hederin of Nigella sativa (N. sativa) of ancient systems of medicine and its anticancer effects found that review will encourage interested researchers to conduct further preclinical and clinical studies to evaluate the anticancer activities of N. sativa, its active constituents and their derivatives, according to "Anticancer Activity of Nigella sativa (Black Seed) - A Review" by Randhawa MA, Alghamdi MS.(1)

2. Antimicrobial activities
In the determination of 3 essential oils [oregano, rosemary, and a commercial blend of essential oils (BEO)]and their effect against pathogenic and non pathogenic bacteria found that rosemary essential oil had antibacterial activity against only 3 pathogenic bacteria including Escherichia coli (8 mm), Salmonella indiana (11 mm), and Listeria innocua (9 mm), according to "Use of rosemary, oregano, and commercial blend of essential oils in broiler chickens: in vitro antimicrobial activities and effects on growth performance' by Mathlouthi N, Bouzaienne T, Oueslati I, Recoquillay F, Hamdi M, Urdaci M, Bergaoui R.(2)

3. Antioxidant effects
In evaluation of essential oils from different chemotypes of Zataria multiflora and it free radical scavenging effect found that EOs (chemotype essential oils), ZM3(carvacrol, p-cymene) with carvacrol and p-cymene had higher antioxidant, NO scavenging and MDA scavenging properties, according to "Antioxidant, nitric oxide scavenging and malondialdehyde scavenging activities of essential oils from different chemotypes of Zataria multiflora" by Karimian P, Kavoosi G, Saharkhiz MJ.(3)

4. Antimicrobial effects
In the demonstratiopn of Essential oils (EOs) extracted EOs, including γ-terpinene (94.48%), 1,8-cineole (46.98%) and carvacrol (46.10%), by hydrodistillation from leaf parts of Algerian Eucalyptus globulu, Myrtus communis and Satureja hortensis found that that the EOs of E. globulus and S. hortensis had remarkable antibacterial properties, according to the study of "Chemical composition and antimicrobial effects of essential Oils of Eucalyptus globulus, Myrtus communis and Satureja hortensis against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus in minced beef" by Djenane D, Yangüela J, Amrouche T, Boubrit S, Boussad N, Roncalés P.(4)

5. Antifungal activity
In the evaluation the mechanism of action of a essential oil (contents of monoterpenes, with carvacrol and cis-β-ocimene) of Lavandula multifida from Portugal and its antifungal activity found that the flow cytometry results suggest a mechanism of action ultimately leading to cytoplasmic membrane disruption and cell death. L. multifida essential oil may be useful in complementary therapy to treat disseminated candidosis, since the inhibition of filamentation alone appears to be sufficient to treat this type of infection, according to the study of "Antifungal activity of phenolic-rich Lavandula multifida L. essential oil" by
Zuzarte M, Vale-Silva L, Gonçalves MJ, Cavaleiro C, Vaz S, Canhoto J, Pinto E, Salgueiro L.(5)

6. Fatty acid oxidation
In the research of oregano essential oil and it effect on mixture of fatty acids found that Antioxidant activity of the oil increased with increase of its concentration. It was shown that carvacrol and thymol are the main antioxidant components of oregano oil, according to "[Oregano essential oil as an inhibitor of higher fatty acid oxidation].[Article in Russian]" by Terenina MB, Misharina TA, Krikunova NI, Alinkina ES, Fatkulina LD, Vorob'eva AK.(6)

7. Analgesic and Anti inflammatory effects
In the investigation of the analgesic and antiinflammatory properties of the aqueous extract from Plectranthus amboinicus (PA) in vivo and in vitro found that PA has analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities. These effects were mediated by inhibiting the proinflammatory mediators through blocking NF-κB activation. Meanwhile, the effects observed in this study provide evidence for folkloric uses of Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. in relieving pain and inflammation, according to "Analgesic and Antiinflammatory Activities of the Aqueous Extract from Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour.) Spreng. Both In Vitro and In Vivo" by Chiu YJ, Huang TH, Chiu CS, Lu TC, Chen YW, Peng WH, Chen CY.(7)

8. Liver cancer
In the research of Carvacrol is one of the members of monoterpene phenol and is present in the volatile oils of Thymus vulgaris, Carum copticum, origanum and oregano and their effects in liver cancer found that that a significant fraction of carvacrol treated cells died by an apoptotic pathway in HepG2 cells. Moreover, carvacrol selectively altered the phosphorylation state of members of the MAPK superfamily, decreasing phosphorylation of ERK1/2 significantly in a dose-dependent manner, and activated phosphorylation of p38 but not affecting JNK MAPK phosphorylation, according to "Anti-proliferative and pro-apoptotic effect of carvacrol on human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG-2" by Yin QH, Yan FX, Zu XY, Wu YH, Wu XP, Liao MC, Deng SW, Yin LL, Zhuang YZ.(8)

9. Immunity
In the evaluation of Two phytonutrient mixtures, VAC (carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, and Capsicum oleoresin), and MC (Capsicum oleoresin and turmeric oleoresin) and it immune stimulation effect found that VAC-supplemented diets, decreased IL-17F and TNFSF15 levels were observed only in infected chickens, according to " Effects of dietary supplementation with phytonutrients on vaccine-stimulated immunity against infection with Eimeria tenella" by Lee SH, Lillehoj HS, Jang SI, Lee KW, Bravo D, Lillehoj EP.(9)

10. Mouth bacterial infections
In the investigation of mucoadhesive patches containing tetracycline hydrochloride and carvacrol found that the antimicrobial activity was assessed for the prepared patches using the disc-diffusion method against the yeast Candida albicans and five bacterial strains, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus bronchispti, according to "Preparation of mucoadhesive oral patches containing tetracycline hydrochloride and carvacrol for treatment of local mouth bacterial infections and candidiasis" by Obaidat RM, Bader A, Al-Rajab W, Abu Sheikha G, Obaidat AA.(10)