2016, Pages 649–658
Chapter 74 – Rockroses (Cistus sp.) Oils
Abstract
Cistus plants, also known as rockroses, are a Mediterranean native genus of shrubs included in the Cistaceae family. The Cistus genus contains 25 different species and most of them are very fragrant and sweet-smelling. All Cistus
species secrete essential oils in different amounts which are mostly
composed of monoterpene, sesquiterpene, and diterpene compounds, but not
all of them are fully characterized. Several Cistus species
also secrete “labdanum,” a sticky exudate covering leaves and stems
mostly in summer, which shares terpenoid composition with the essential
oil. Several reports have noted significant antioxidant activity and
potential antimicrobial activity of Cistus essential oils
against a wide variety of bacterial and fungal infections, which is
probably due to presence of terpenes. The use of some of these essential
oils has been approved in low concentrations as flavoring agents.
Nevertheless, due to potential reported side effects, safety assessment
studies must be conducted in order to use these materials for food
preservation purposes.
Keywords
- Antimicrobial;
- Antioxidant;
- Cistus;
- Essential oil;
- Labdanum
Acknowledgments
Some
of the concepts expressed in this review chapter have been supported by
competitive public grants from different institutions:
AGL2011-29857-C03-03, IDI-20120741, IDI-20120888 (Spanish Ministry of
Science and Innovation), PROMETEO/2012/007, and ACOMP/2013/093 from
Generalitat Valenciana (GV), and CIBER (CB12/03/30038, Fisiopatología de
la Obesidad y la Nutrición, CIBERobn, Instituto de Salud Carlos III).
Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
