Study of Essential Oils Obtained from Tropical Plants Grown in Colombia

Researchers from several Colombian universities have joined efforts for over 15 years to characterize the composition and biological properties of more than a thousand samples of essential oils (EOs) obtained from aromatic plants collected during at least 30 botanical outings in different regions of Colombia. This chapter presents a brief description of essential oil extraction and chemical characterization techniques, followed by a representative list of references to publications on EO composition obtained from tropical aromatic plants that grow in Colombia. Opportunities for the development of interesting products for the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, hygiene, and food industries are illustrated with a few selected works on the evaluation of cytotoxicity, antioxidant, antiviral, antigenotoxic activities, and repellence of these essential oils.