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Why does plants produce Essential Oils

Human carry out multiple complex process to extract essential oils from the plant. Plants engage considerable amount of effort to synthesize these plants. Also, it becomes quite essential to understand why do plants do this.

 

Some important factors to consider before we delve into detail:

 

  • There are some specific plants which produce essential oils, which shows that these oils are not absolutely necessary for plants.
  • The essential oils produced by the plants belong to botanical families which are extremely diverse from each other.
  • These oils are present in secretary cells or secretary tissues of the plant which may be external or internal. Oil may also be present in secretary cells or secretary channels or in epidermal cells.

 

From above we can infer that not all plants are responsible for the production of oils, only some specific plants produce essential oils. These plants belongs to different families and the organs used for production of these oils are present in different parts of the plants.

 

The role of essential oils in plants:

 

  • Direct & In-Direct Defense Mechanisms against Plant Eaters & Herbivores : Plants emit terpenes with toxic, repellent and anti-feedant and anti digestive properties against insects and mammals. Once the animal, birds or pathogens ingested them, they cause issues to nervous system, digestive system and may cause feeling of nausea, vomiting, indigestion etc. As a rule, these essences increase concentration after an attack, to better defend against other attacks and to alert other parts of the plant. Indirectly they are strategized to protect the plant by attracting, feeding or favoring predatory organisms, animals for insects damaging it.
  • Attraction of seed pollinators and disperse-rs: Terpenes also attract the animals, birds, insects which can disperse their pollen grains to other plants and flowers for reproduction and also disperse the seeds produced to a larger area for bringing in new generation to life.
  • Action as solvent/carriers: Terpenoids also acts as solvents and carriers of other bio-actives which help these bio-actives to travel to designated parts faster and even distribution of these bio-actives to concerned part of the plant such as leaves, stem, petals etc.
  • Allelopathy: Plants also help other plants or same species or different species from growing nearby by secreting terpenes inhibiting the growth of such species in the surroundings. Allelopathy is a way in which plants protect their family and species from unwanted plants.
  • Adapting to environmental stresses: Terpenes help the plant survive at very high temperatures and lack of water, protecting the photosynthesis apparatus (by its nature sensitive to electromagnetic radiation) from excesses of radiation.
  • Organ messages: This fascinating activity helps the plant, which does not have a developed nervous system or even a vascular system (allowing the fast circulation of hormonal messages in the organism) to coordinate different organs and tissues. If the plant is damaged by an insect, it emits volatile terpenes that can travel from the damaged part to the parts that are not yet damaged and “warn” them of the danger, stimulating an “immune” response, often a higher synthesis and emission of terpenes of defense against herbivores.
  • Messages to other plants: The same mechanism that I have just explained also serves the damaged plant to “alert” the nearby plants of the danger.

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