Geraniol is a natural component found in many flowers (rose, Citronella) and is used in cosmetics as a perfume.

It is also used in oily formation as an insect repellent.

It is a component recently studied also in medicine for its inhibitory functions of cancer cell proliferation (1).

In the search for anti-inflammatory drugs, many studies have turned to natural components that have no side effects. Geraniol from pink geranium could have significant potential for developing anti-inflammatory drugs with a better safety profile (2).

References_______________________________________________________________________

(1) Galle M, Crespo R, Kladniew BR, Villegas SM, Polo M, de Bravo MG.  Suppression by geraniol of the growth of A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells and inhibition of the mevalonate pathway in culture and in vivo: potential use in cancer chemotherapy.   Nutr Cancer. 2014;66(5):888-95. doi: 10.1080/01635581.2014.916320. 

Jin X, Sun J, Miao X, Liu G, Zhong D.J   Inhibitory effect of geraniol in combination with gemcitabine on proliferation of BXPC-3 human pancreatic cancer cells.  Int Med Res. 2013 Aug;41(4):993-1001. doi: 10.1177/0300060513480919. Epub 2013 Jun 25.

Crespo R, Montero Villegas S, Abba MC, de Bravo MG, Polo MP.  Transcriptional and posttranscriptional inhibition of HMGCR and PC biosynthesis by geraniol in 2 Hep-G2 cell proliferation linked pathways.  Biochem Cell Biol. 2013 Jun;91(3):131-9. doi: 10.1139/bcb-2012-0076. Epub 2012 Nov 14.

(2) Boukhatem MN, Kameli A, Ferhat MA, Saidi F, Mekarnia M. Rose geranium essential oil as a source of new and safe anti-inflammatory drugs.  Libyan J Med. 2013 Oct 7;8:22520. doi: 10.3402/ljm.v8i0.22520.