Carvacrol and human health: A comprehensive review

Abstract

Carvacrol (CV) is a phenolic monoterpenoid found in essential oils of oregano (Origanum vulgare), thyme (Thymus vulgaris), pepperwort (Lepidium flavum), wild bergamot (Citrus aurantium bergamia), and other plants. Carvacrol possesses a wide range of bioactivities putatively useful for clinical applications such antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer activities. Carvacrol antimicrobial activity is higher than that of other volatile compounds present in essential oils due to the presence of the free hydroxyl group, hydrophobicity, and the phenol moiety. The present review illustrates the state-of-the-art studies on the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer properties of CV. It is particularly effective against food-borne pathogens, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Bacillus cereus. Carvacrol has high antioxidant activity and has been successfully used, mainly associated with thymol, as dietary phytoadditive to improve animal antioxidant status. The anticancer properties of CV have been reported in preclinical models of breast, liver, and lung carcinomas, acting on proapoptotic processes. Besides the interesting properties of CV and the toxicological profile becoming definite, to date, human trials on CV are still lacking, and this largely impedes any conclusions of clinical relevance.

Composition, and antioxidant and enzyme‐inhibition activities, of essential oils from Satureja thymbra and Thymbra spicata var. spicata

“…As is known, phenolic compounds show good antioxidant activity in the hydrophilic and hydrophobic media. Carvacrol is a phenolic monoterpenoid found in the essential oils of some plants . The antioxidant potential of carvacrol is therefore higher than that of other volatile compounds present in essential oils through the presence of the free hydroxyl group and the phenol moiety.…”

“…Carvacrol is a phenolic monoterpenoid found in the essential oils of some plants. 35 The antioxidant potential of carvacrol is therefore higher than that of other volatile compounds present in essential oils through the presence of the free hydroxyl group and the phenol moiety. In addition, Ozturk reported that γ-terpinene also exhibited similar activity to those of phenolic compounds, 5 and therefore the antioxidant activity of both essential oils could be attributed to the presence of these components.…”

fMRI‐Based Brain Responses to Olfactory Stimulation with Two Putatively Orexigenic Functional Food Ingredients at Two Different Concentrations in the Pig Model

“…Herbal extracts also present some interesting features. Oreganum vulgarae and its principal compounds, carvacrol, as well as Cymbopogon flexuosus, that is, lemongrass, can have positive effects on behavior and emotions (Amiresmaeili, Roohollahi, Mostafavi, & Askari, 2018;Blanco, Costa, Freire, Santos, & Costa, 2009;Costa et al, 2011;Jugl-Chizzola et al, 2006;Mechan et al, 2011;Pires et al, 2013;Sharifi-Rad et al, 2018;Zotti et al, 2013). In this study, we compared two food ingredients with putative orexigenic and hedonic outcomes: ingredient A, derived from C. sinensis extracts, and ingredient B, a combination of O. vulgarae and C. flexuosus extracts.…”

Echinacea plants as antioxidant and antibacterial agents: From traditional medicine to biotechnological applications

“…Regarding the volatile compounds, essential oils (EOs) are considered as potential medicinal agents (Salehi et al, ; J. Sharifi‐Rad, Sureda, et al, ; M. Sharifi‐Rad, Varoni, et al, ; M. Sharifi‐Rad et al, ; Yu et al, ). The EOs from Echinacea plants can be obtained from different parts of the plants, such as roots, leaves, flowers, and aerial parts, and with different yields (Mazza & Cottrell, ).…”