Health aspects of geraniol

Abstract Background: Geraniol (GE), as secondary metabolites of plant and natural bioactive essential oils is one of the major compounds of Rosa damascena Mill and widely used as fragrance/flavor in the food industry. Rosa damascena Mill and geraniol have numerous health benefits for human consumption. Currently, there is no single article that extensively covers the complete range of beneficial effects of GE that could improve knowledge in this category. Objective: The purpose of this study was to provide a comprehensive review of all published specific articles about beneficial properties of GE, as a monoterpene component of medicinal plants. Methods: Data were selected from Scopus, Clarivate Web Of ScienceTM, Embase, ScienceDirect and PubMed databases from 1940-2019 by identifying keywords and creating complex searches. Results: Based on the search results, GE identified as a natural compound having insecticidal and repellent activities. GE introduces a new class of cancer chemopreventive agents due to its citronellol and trans-geraniol. Other functional properties such as antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory of GE have also been found. Conclusion: Overall, this approach has been a systematic literature review to provide an effective strategy for rapidly evaluating research results. This study suggests that the GE and Rosa damascena Mill have multiple health benefits and they are recommended for their therapeutic effects. Keywords: Geraniol; Medicinal plant; Bioactivity; Rosa damascene