(Therapeutic Grade) Essential Oils: Blood of the Plant
What Are Terpenes?
Among the compounds found in the essential oils of plants are a group of substances
called terpenes, all of which have in common the fact that their carbon skeletons
can be divided into two or more carbon units that are identical with the five-carbon
skeleton of isoprene. Carbon 1 of an isoprene unit is called the head, and carbon
4 is called the tail. A terpene is a compound in which the tail of one isoprene
unit becomes bonded to the head of another isoprene unit.
CH3
|
CH2=C-CH=CH2 |
C
1 |23 4
C-C-C-C |
| 2-Methyl-1,3-butadiene |
Isoprene unit |
Terpenes are among the most widely distributed compounds in the biological world, and a
study of their structure provides a glimpse into the wondrous diversity that nature
can generate from a simple carbon skeleton. Terpenes also illustrate an important principle
of the molecular logic of living systems: In building large molecules, small subunits are
bonded together by a series of enzyme-catalyzed reactions and then chemically modified
by additional enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Chemists use the same principles in the
laboratory, but their methods cannot match the precision and selectivity of the
enzyme-catalyzed reactions of cellular systems.
Probably the terpenes most familiar to you - at least by odor - are components of the
so-called essential oils extracted from various parts of plants. Essential oils contain
the relatively low-molecular-weight substances that are largely responsible for characteristic plant fragrances.
Monoterpenes
Monoterpenes and compounds containing two isoprene units, which is ten carbon atoms and sixteen hydrogen atoms per molecule (C10H16) - molecular weight 136 amu for a hydrocarbon monterpene. There are an estimated 2,000 varieties of monoterpenes.
Monoterpenes are found in most essential oils:
Grapefruit (92%), Angelica (80%), Frankincese (77%), Cypress (77%), Galbanum (75%),
Pine (60%), Rose of Sharon (54%), Juniper (54%), Spruce (50%), Myrtle (37%),
Hyssop (30%), and Peppermint (11%).
While offering a variety of healing properties, the most important ability of the
monoterpenes is that they can reprogram miswritten information in the cellular
memory (DNA) (restoring God's image, Genesis 1:26). With improper coding in
cellular memory, cells malfunction and diseases result, including lethal ones, such as cancer.
Sesquiterpenes
Sesquiterpenes are compounds containing three isoprene units, which is fifteen carbons
and twenty-four hydrogens per molecule (C15H24) - molecular weight 204 amu for a hydrocarbon
sesquiterpene. There are more than 10,000 kinds of sesquiterpenes.
Sesquiterpenes are the principal constituents of:
Cedarwood (985), Vetiver (96%), Sandalwood (aloes) (95%), Patchouli (85%),
Ginger (70%), Myrrh (60%), Spikenard (50%), and Black Pepper (47%).
They are also found in Galbanum (4%) and Frankincense (8%).
Sesquiterpen molecules deliver oxygen molecules to cells, like hemoglobin does
in the blood. Sesquiterpens can also erase or deprogram miswritten codes in
cellular memory. Sesquiterpenes are thought to be especially effective in
fighting cancer. The root problem with a cancer cell is that it contains
misinformation, and sesquiterpenes can delete that garbled information.
At the same time the oxygen carried by sesquiterpene molecules creates an
environment where cancer cells can't reproduce. Hence, sesquiterpenes
deliver cancer cells a double punch - one that disables their coded
misbehavior and a second that stops their growth.
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