Influence of plant essential oils on older adults with anxiety and depression.

Adv Gerontol. 2025;38(3):450-456.

ABSTRACT

The effect of essential oils (EO) of 25 species and varieties of essential oil plants on elderly people (average age over 70 years) was studied when they inhaled air containing EO vapors at a concentration of 1 mg/m3. It was found that an anxiolytic effect lasting more than 30 minutes was provided by EO of Siberian fir and peppermint of the Prilutskaya variety, more than 20 minutes – EO of common basil, Transcaucasian catnip, catnip, narrow-leaved lavender, noble laurel, long-leaved mint of the Oksamitova variety, peppermint of the Ukrainian variety, essential oil rose of the Crimean red variety, medicinal rosemary, garden savory. The antidepressant effect of EO is noticeably weaker than the anxiolytic effect. A stable effect for more than 30 minutes was not found in any EO. The effect observed after 20 minutes of exposure was given by only three EO: garden savory, thyme and peppermint of the Udaychanka variety.

PMID:41172320