It is a common perspective that medicinal plants have played and continue to perform an undeniably major role in the lives of people worldwide. Essential oils are the key constituents of medicinal herbs and their biological activities have been discovered since ancient times and are enormously utilized in multiple industries. The essential oils possess important biological properties like antibacterial, antioxidant, antiviral, insecticidal, etc. Because of these unique features they are more acceptable and are utilized in various fields throughout the world. In the cosmetics industry they play an important role in the development of perfumes while in the food industry they have been used as food preservatives. Essential oil components are interestingly utilised for pharmaceutical applications. The most investigated properties are antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, wound-healing, anxiolytic activities etc. The current thrust area is evaluation for aromatherapy and anti-cancer, as it is noted that essential oils reported in plants may prevent, inhibit, or even reverse formation of cancerous cells. The aim of this chapter is to provide a concise and comprehensive overview on the therapeutic and pharmaceutical potential of essential oils in the current scenario.

She is pursuing her Ph.D in the division of Forest Products and Utilization, Faculty of Forestry, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Benhama, Ganderbal, J&K, India. She is a  young researcher engaged in medicinal and aromatic plants. She is a skilled scientific writer. She has four first author publications. Also, four more publications are in pipeline. She has attended three international conferences and won best oral presentation awards. Currently, she is writing reports in Current Science Journal.