The objective of the volume 37 of Recent Progress in Medicinal Plants is to bring together the scientific material relating to essential oils of contemporary pharmaceutical importance. In general, essential oils are important not only as perfuming and flavouring agent, but also in terms of their putative medicinal or pharmacological properties. This volume aims to describe those important essential oils in a comprehensive and organized manner. Its contributors are from 14 countries namely Argentina, Bulgaria, Egypt, India, Iran, Italy, Korea, Romania, Slovak Republic, Tanzania, Turkey, USA, Venezuela and Yemen. This volume is divided into 18 chapters. The first chapter details the applications of essential oils in aromatherapy. The second chapter gives an account on the promise of essential oils in veterinary medicine. The different neuropharmacological properties of essential oils are explained in the third chapter. The fourth chapter describes the recent updates in essential oils with antimicrobial activities. The fifth chapter deals with the effects on essential oils on insects. The activities of essential oils as green pesticides are explicated in the sixth chapter. The seventh chapter deals with the role of essential oils in protection of crops. The next chapters individually elaborate the biological and therapeutic properties of 10 important essential oils. The facts and findings presented in the present volume would serve as basic as well as applied scientific material for further work in developing newer and effective therapeutic agents, flavouring agents, cosmetics and insecticides from essential oils. This special volume is designed for professionals of interdisciplinary health sciences, food technology, pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacognosy, pharmacology, agriculture, botany, medicine, therapeutics, traditional medicine, complementary and alternative medicine, aromatherapy, herbalism, medical and public health sciences, healthcare professionals of other various disciplines, policy-makers and marketing and economic strategists. It is addressed to undergraduates, post-graduates, teachers and researchers.

By J.N. Govil and Sanjib Bhattacharya