Evidence mapPaperPMID 41596096Full record

ReviewAntioxidants (Basel, Switzerland)2025

Essential Oils as Antioxidants: Mechanistic Insights from Radical Scavenging to Redox Signaling.

Yeqin Huang, Haniyeh Ebrahimi, Elena Berselli, Mario C Foti, Riccardo Amorati

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Nano-Enabled Advances in Tea Tree Essential Oil (Materials (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Review
  2. Pickering Emulsion Stabilized by Chitosan-ModifiedPharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Article
  3. Metabolite Profiling of Lavender (Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. IntegratedFrontiers in chemistry · 2026
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Yeqin HuangDepartment of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Via Gobetti 83, 40129 Bologna, Italy.ORCID 0000-0003-2468-8674
Haniyeh EbrahimiDepartment of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Via Gobetti 83, 40129 Bologna, Italy.
Elena BerselliDepartment of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Via Gobetti 83, 40129 Bologna, Italy.
Mario C FotiConsiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Chimica Biomolecolare, Via Paolo Gaifami 18, 95126 Catania, Italy.
Riccardo AmoratiDepartment of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Via Gobetti 83, 40129 Bologna, Italy.ORCID 0000-0002-6417-9957

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Essential oils (EOs) are complex volatile mixtures that exhibit antioxidant activity through both chemical and biological pathways. Phenolic constituents act as efficient chain-breaking radical-trapping antioxidants, whereas some non-phenolic terpenes operate through distinct mechanisms. Notably, γ-terpinene functions via a "radical export" pathway, generating hydroperoxyl radicals that intercept lipid peroxyl radicals and accelerate chain termination. Recent methodological advances, such as inhibited autoxidation kinetics, oxygen-consumption assays, and fluorescence-based lipid peroxidation probes, have enabled more quantitative evaluation of these activities. Beyond direct radical chemistry, EOs also regulate redox homeostasis by modulating signaling networks such as Nrf2/Keap1, thereby activating antioxidant response element-driven enzymatic defenses in cell and animal models. Phenolic constituents and electrophilic compounds bearing an α,β-unsaturated carbonyl structure may directly activate Nrf2 by modifying Keap1 cysteine residues, whereas non-phenolic terpenes likely depend on oxidative metabolism to form active electrophilic species. Despite broad evidence of antioxidant efficacy, molecular characterization of EO-protein interactions remains limited. This review integrates radical-chain dynamics with redox signaling biology to clarify the mechanistic basis of EO antioxidant activity and to provide a framework for future research.

Indexed as

antioxidant mechanismsessential oilskineticsmethodologyNrf2/Keap1 pathwayphenolic compoundsradicalsredox signalingterpenes

Identifiers

PMID41596096
PMCPMC12837229

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.