Phytoncides Use in Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a new branch of science that is involved in the therapeutic use of scents and fragrances to help in the treatment of some health conditions. In other words, it can be considered to be a form of alternative therapy that is very effective in curing and controlling many health conditions, mainly in relaxing a stressed out mind and body.

Aromatherapy is basically practiced using fragrances and essential oils extracted from different plants and flowers. And in some of these plants, along with these fragrances and essential oils, we can also find a volatile organic compound called phytoncides. It can be said that phytoncides are basically the anti microbial allelochemic and volatile organic compounds that are found in plants. And it is these volatile organic compounds that are found in plants, and that can help in killing microbes.

It was Dr. Boris P. Tokin, who was a Russian biochemist working in Leningrad University that first discovered, and coined the phrase ‘exterminated by the plant’ in 1937. He had found out that there were some plants that had the capacity of emitting some active substances through which it was possible to prevent that specific plant from rotting or from being eaten by other insects and animals.

It is found that many spices, pine trees, oak trees, onion, garlic and some other plants are the plants that emits phytoncides. In fact, it is estimated that there are more than 5000 volatile substances that are found around you with which it is possible to protect its surrounding plants from bacteria, fungi and insects.

It is basically by not permitting any growth of the attacking organism that a phytoncide works. You find a substance called greenery alcohol that is emitted from oak, allicin and diallyl disulfide emitted from garlic and alpha-pinene, careen, myrcene and other terpenes being emitted from pine. It is these substances that work as phytoncides.

Today, you can find many countries using phytoncides in the manufacture of their medication through aromatherapy. They are used in Russian, Japanese and Ukrainian medicine and are also extensively used in holistic medicine and veterinary medicine, besides being used in aromatherapy. You find many fragrant oils and sulfuric compounds that are terpene based, and come from plants found in the ‘allium’ genus. However, sometimes, these phytoncides may not be used in any form of aromatherapy, purely for the disagreeable smell it produces.