Geraniol — A review of a commercially important fragrance material

Geraniol is a commercially important terpene alcohol occurring in the essential oils of several aromatic plants. It is one of the most important molecules in the flavour and fragrance industries and is a common ingredient in consumer products produced by these industries. In addition to its pleasant odour, geraniol is known to exhibit insecticidal and repellent properties and used as a natural pest control agent exhibiting low toxicity. Geraniol has been suggested to represent a new class of chemoprevention agents for cancer. Other biological activities such as antimicrobial, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and some vascular effects have also been investigated. The effect of geraniol as a penetration enhancer for transdermal drug delivery has also attracted the attention of researchers and formulation scientists. This review aims to coherently discuss some of the most important applications of geraniol and unites the results obtained from several studies reporting the biological properties of this molecule.