Aromatic Materials

Aromatic materials have for centuries been widely used in Traditional Medicine to treat a variety of ailments, ranging from physical illnesses to mental and emotional ones. Aromatherapy, the systematic use of plant essential oils and other aromatic materials in holistic healing, first originated in the late 19th century. The practice, believed to use the plant’s natural compounds to restore and balance the body and the mind. Most essential oils are composed of primarily monoterpenes, one of the major volatile components of the plant. Monoterpenes are responsible for the unique fragrances associated with essential oils and are responsible for the health benefits attributed to these oils. Monoterpenes are known to span both the water and lipid solubility range making them easily absorbable by the human body. Their role in physiologic process is wide-reaching which further depends upon the individual genus and species of the plants from which the essential oil was extracted. Synthetic materials such as perfumes have been formulated for centuries to mimic nature’s aromatic compounds. Although synthetics can smell nice, they are limited in their pharmacologic benefits since many of the secondary components of an essential oil are left out in the synthetics. Furthermore, natural compounds have been renowned for their therapeutic properties, as they not only possess the scent and flavour, but also a host of bioactive chemical components with their own pharmacologic activities. In conclusion, aromatic materials such as essential oils have long been used in Traditional Medicine, and has shown great therapeutic potential. They are made up of different components that are beneficial to our body’s repairs and wellness, and still remain the preferred choice in therapies as they contain many more beneficial components than synthetics. Thus, their use is still widespread in Traditional Medicine and we watch to see how this use evolves further in the future.