Abstract
Aromatherapy is one of the complementary therapies to improve health. The aromatic essential oils have been used in the treatment procedure through inhalation of essential oil vapor, massage, and herbal bathing. Litsea species are generally used in traditional medicine, and Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Persoon is a potent fumigant plant, used in cosmetics and foods as essence. The chemical composition of the essential oil of different parts of L. cubeba has been found to be varied. L. cubeba essential oil (LEO) is known for the treatment of cognition-associated discomforts. The current study assessed the impact of inhalation of LEO on mood states and salivary cortisol levels of healthy people. Fifteen healthy volunteers were involved in the study. The Profile of Mood States (POMS) Questionnaire and ELISA methods were employed to determine the mood states and salivary cortisol level, respectively. (-)-β-pinene, β-citral, cis- and trans-citral, citronellal, limonene, linalool, and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one were detected in LEO by GC-MS analysis. The heart rate and blood pressure were not affected significantly during LEO exposure. The inhalation of LEO significantly improved the total mood disturbance and reduced the confusion among the healthy human subjects. LEO inhalation reduced the salivary cortisol level at a notable level. The results of the current study warrant further studies on the beneficial effect of LEO aromatherapy in healthy and diseased subjects to uncover the therapeutic nature of the L. cubeba plant.
Highlights
Aromatherapy is one of the complementary therapies to improve health. e aromatic essential oils have been used in the treatment procedure through inhalation of essential oil vapor, massage, and herbal bathing
Composition of L. cubeba Essential Oil. e percentage yield of L. cubeba essential oil (LEO) extract obtained from L. cubeba fruits by steam distillation was 0.3% (w/w). e LEO composition was measured by using a Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometer (GC-MS), and the results were tabulated (Table 1). (-)-β-Pinene, β-citral, cis- and trans-citral, citronellal, limonene, linalool, and 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one were detected in LEO samples at the concentration of 4.28, 838, 936, 14.6, 68, 16, and 47.8 mg/ml of LEO, respectively
LEO was extracted, and the composition of LEO was determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GCMS). e results showed that LEO was rich in citral, limonene, 6-methyl-5-hepten-2-one, and linalool (Table 1). e observation was supported by previous reports
Summary
Aromatherapy is one of the complementary therapies to improve health. e aromatic essential oils have been used in the treatment procedure through inhalation of essential oil vapor, massage, and herbal bathing. Aromatherapy is one of the complementary therapies to improve health. E aromatic essential oils have been used in the treatment procedure through inhalation of essential oil vapor, massage, and herbal bathing. Aromatherapy helps to improve the quality of the lifespan of chronic patients. The lavender oil-based aromatic massage therapy and Rosa damascene Mill essential oil therapy improved the sleep quality of cardiac patients [1, 2]. Litsea is one of the diverse genera, which contains 200–400 species of the Lauraceae family distributed across the tropical and subtropical regions. Litsea species are commonly used in the traditional medicine of several nations for thousands of years [3]. Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Persoon is an aromatic plant widely scattered in Australia, America, Japan, China, and Southeastern Asia [4]. L. cubeba is a potent fumigant plant [5] and used in cosmetics and foods as essence [6, 7]. e chemical composition of the essential oil of different parts of L. cubeba has been reported
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
