Potential Antioxidant Activity of Terpenes
Béchir Baccouri, Imene Rajhi
Abstract
Terpenes play a key part in the metabolic processes of a wide variety of animals, plants and microorganisms in which they are produced. In nature, terpenoids serve a variety of purposes including defense, signaling and as key agents in metabolic processes. Terpenes have been used in perfumery, cosmetics and medicine for thousands of years and are still extracted from natural sources for these uses. Terpenes antioxidant activities may sometimes explain their capacity to adjust inflammation, immunological effects and neural signal transmission. They offer pertinent protection under oxidative stress situations including renal, liver, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, neurodegenerative and diabetes as well as in ageing mechanisms.