Latin Name: Litsea cubeba

Family: Lauracae

RESEARCH

The listings of research below represent a compilation of scientific articles found on the species, with a very brief overview description of each article/study.  Research found is catalogued by therapeutic action.  This categorized compilation of research articles does not necessarily imply that there are adequate results to demonstrate safe and/or effective human use.

GENERAL

• Lis-Balchin, M. (2006). Aromatherapy Science: A guide for healthcare professionals. London: Pharmaceutical Press.
• In this review of research, essential oils from the family Lauraceae family have shown significant antioxidant, antifungal, antibacterial, and anti-inflammatory activities. From: Damasceno, C. S. B., Higaki, N. T. F., Dias, J. D. F. G., Miguel, M. D., & Miguel, O. G. (2019). Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Essential Oils in the Family Lauraceae: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Planta medica.
• In a review of research, Litsea cubeba has been traditionally used for digestive issues, diabetes, inflammation, the common cold, arthritis, asthma, and traumatic injuries. Its essential oil has shown antibacterial, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiparasitic, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-HIV, and anti-cancer properties. From: Kamle, M., Mahato, D. K., Lee, K. E., Bajpai, V. K., Gajurel, P. R., Gu, K. S., & Kumar, P. (2019). Ethnopharmacological Properties and Medicinal Uses of Litsea cubeba. Plants, 8(6), 150.

ANXIOLITIC / ANTIDEPRESSIVE

• Litsea glaucescens showed antidepressant activity in vivo, and β-pinene and linalool were its active constituents.  From:  Guzmán-Gutiérrez, S. L., Gómez-Cansino, R., García-Zebadúa, J. C., Jiménez-Pérez, N. C., & Reyes-Chilpa, R. (2012). Antidepressant activity of Litsea glaucescens essential oil: identification of β-pinene and linalool as active principles. Journal of ethnopharmacology, 143(2), 673-679.

​ANTIMICROBIAL / ANTIBACTERIAL

• Antimicrobial action of litsea, rosemary, and lemon were demonstrated against tested skin microbes.  From: Ogbechie, A., Abioye, A. O., Shen, J., & Laird, K. (2017). Antimicrobial activity of Litsea cubeba, Rosmarinus officinalis and Citrus lemon essential oils against five skin-infection related pathogens. Phytochemical Society of Europe.
• The linalool type Litsea cubeba leaf essential oil was more antibacterial agaisnt the tested pathogens then the 1,8-cineole type. From: Nguyen, H. V., Meile, J. C., Lebrun, M., Caruso, D., Chu‐Ky, S., & Sarter, S. (2018). Litsea cubeba leaf essential oil from Vietnam: chemical diversity and its impacts on antibacterial activity. Letters in applied microbiology, 66(3), 207-214.
• Fruit from the essential oil of Litsea cubeba had the highest antimicrobial and antioxidant activity if harvested in July or August. From: She, Q. H., Li, W. S., Jiang, Y. Y., Wu, Y. C., Zhou, Y. H., & Zhang, L. (2019). Chemical composition, antimicrobial activity and antioxidant activity of Litsea cubeba essential oils in different months. Natural product research, 1-4.
• Litsea essential oil showed in vitro antibacterial activity against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. From: Hu, W., Li, C., Dai, J., Cui, H., & Lin, L. (2019). Antibacterial activity and mechanism of Litsea cubeba essential oil against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Industrial Crops and Products, 130, 34-41.
• Leaf and fruit essential oils from Litsea cubeba showed antimicrobial activities against tested pathogens, with fruit oil and its constituents being more effective. From: Saikia, A. K., Chetia, D., D’Arrigo, M., Smeriglio, A., Strano, T., & Ruberto, G. (2013). Screening of fruit and leaf essential oils of Litsea cubeba Pers. from north-east India–chemical composition and antimicrobial activity. Journal of essential oil research, 25(4), 330-338.
• Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities were demonstrated from extracts of Litsea cubeba in vitro. From: Gogoi, R., Loying, R., Sarma, N., Munda, S., Pandey, S. K., & Lal, M. (2018). A comparative study on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, genotoxicity, anti-microbial activities and chemical composition of fruit and leaf essential oils of Litsea cubeba Pers from North-east India. Industrial Crops and Products, 125, 131-139.

INSECT REPELLENT / INSECTICIDAL

• Essential oils were tested against the yellow fever mosquito,  the malaria vector, and the filariasis and encephalitis vector.  The five most effective oils were those of Litsea cubeba (litsea), Melaleuca leucadendron (cajeput), Melaleuca quinquenervia (niaouli), Viola odorata (violet), and Nepeta cataria (catnip), with a protection time of 8 hours at 100% repellency against all three species.  From:  Amer, A., & Mehlhorn, H. (2006). Repellency effect of forty-one essential oils against Aedes, Anopheles, and Culex mosquitoes. Parasitology research, 99(4), 478-490.
• Fumigant anti-termite activity was presented by ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi), allspice (Pimenta dioica), caraway (Carum carvi), dill (Anethum graveolens), geranium (Pelargonium graveolens), and litsea (Litsea cubeba). From:  Seo, S. M., Kim, J., Lee, S. G., Shin, C. H., Shin, S. C., & Park, I. K. (2009). Fumigant antitermitic activity of plant essential oils and components from ajowan (Trachyspermum ammi), allspice (Pimenta dioica), caraway (Carum carvi), dill (Anethum graveolens), geranium (Pelargonium graveolens), and litsea (Litsea cubeba) oils against Japanese termite (Reticulitermes speratus Kolbe). Journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 57(15), 6596-6602
• Essential oils from Melaleuca leucadendron (cajuput), Litsea cubeba, and Litsea salicifolia  exhibited significant irritant and repellent properties against Ae. aegypti mosquitos.  From:  Noosidum, A., Prabaripai, A., Chareonviriyaphap, T., & Chandrapatya, A. (2008). Excito-repellency properties of essential oils from Melaleuca leucadendron L., Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Persoon, and Litsea salicifolia (Nees) on Aedes aegypti (L.) mosquitoes. Journal of Vector Ecology, 33(2), 305-312.
• Litsea cubeba (10%), Mentha arvensis (10%) along with vanillin (5%) and tween (5%) in alcohol (70%) showed 4 hours of skin repellency against the mosquito: Aedes albopictus. From: Wu, H., Zhang, M., & Yang, Z. (2019). Repellent activity screening of 12 essential oils against Aedes albopictus Skuse: Repellent liquid preparation of Mentha arvensis and Litsea cubeba oils and bioassay on hand skin. Industrial crops and products, 128, 464-470.
• Field trials indicate that an aqueous cream containing 15% of the leaf oils of Litsea elliptica, Cinnamomum mollissimum, and Cymbopogon nardus provided 96.6% protection against mosquito bites  From:  Jantan, I., & Zaki, Z. M. (1998). Development of environment-friendly insect repellents from the leaf oils of selected Malaysian plants. ASEAN Rev Biodivers Environ Conserv, 1-7.

IMMUNITY

• Litsea showed immune-suppressive activity in vitro. It may be helpful in autoimmune diseases.  From:  Chen, H. C., Chang, W. T., Hseu, Y. C., Chen, H. Y., Chuang, C. H., Lin, C. C., … & Lin, M. K. (2016). Immunosuppressive effect of Litsea cubeba L. essential oil on dendritic cell and contact hypersensitivity responses. International journal of molecular sciences, 17(8), 1319.

OSTEOPOROSIS

• A constituent isolated from Litsea cubeba had an antiosteoporosis effect in vitro. From: Peng, W., Shen, H., Lin, B., Han, P., Li, C., Zhang, Q., … & Han, T. (2018). Docking study and antiosteoporosis effects of a dibenzylbutane lignan isolated from Litsea cubeba targeting Cathepsin K and MEK1. Medicinal Chemistry Research, 27(9), 2062-2070.

ANTIOXIDANT

• Fruit from the essential oil of Litsea cubeba had the highest antimicrobial and antioxidant activity if harvested in July or August. From: She, Q. H., Li, W. S., Jiang, Y. Y., Wu, Y. C., Zhou, Y. H., & Zhang, L. (2019). Chemical composition, antimicrobial activity and antioxidant activity of Litsea cubeba essential oils in different months. Natural product research, 1-4.
• Extracts from litsea plants showed in vitro antioxidant activities. From: Choudhury, D., Ghosal, M., Das, A. P., & Mandal, P. (2013). In vitro antioxidant activity of methanolic leaves and barks extracts of four Litsea plants. Asian J Pl Sci Res, 3, 99-107.
• Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities were demonstrated from extracts of Litsea cubeba in vitro. From: Gogoi, R., Loying, R., Sarma, N., Munda, S., Pandey, S. K., & Lal, M. (2018). A comparative study on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, genotoxicity, anti-microbial activities and chemical composition of fruit and leaf essential oils of Litsea cubeba Pers from North-east India. Industrial Crops and Products, 125, 131-139.

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY

• Boldine and reticuline alkaloids isolated from Litsea cubeba had an in vivo anti-inflammatory effect. From: Yang, X., Gao, X., Cao, Y., Guo, Q., Li, S., Zhu, Z., … & Chai, X. (2018). Anti-inflammatory effects of boldine and reticuline isolated from Litsea cubeba through JAK2/STAT3 and NF-κB signaling pathways. Planta medica, 84(01), 20-25.
• Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities were demonstrated from extracts of Litsea cubeba in vitro. From: Gogoi, R., Loying, R., Sarma, N., Munda, S., Pandey, S. K., & Lal, M. (2018). A comparative study on antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, genotoxicity, anti-microbial activities and chemical composition of fruit and leaf essential oils of Litsea cubeba Pers from North-east India. Industrial Crops and Products, 125, 131-139.

ANTI-DIABETIC

• Flavonoids of Litsea coreana reduced blood glucose levels in vivo. From: Sun, Y. X., Lu, Y. X., & Wang, L. Y. (2010). Study on the mechanism of action of total flavonoids of Litsea coreana for reducing blood glucose level in rat with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Zhongguo Zhong xi yi jie he za zhi Zhongguo Zhongxiyi jiehe zazhi= Chinese journal of integrated traditional and Western medicine, 30(6), 617-621.

ANTI-ASTHMA / ANTI-ALLERGY

• Laurotetaine extracted from the roots of Litsea cubeba had an anti-asthmatic, anti-allergy effect in vivo. From: Xing, X., & Wang, H. (2019). Anti-asthmatic effect of laurotetanine extracted from Litsea cubeba (Lour.) Pers. root on ovalbumin-induced allergic asthma rats, and elucidation of its mechanism of action. Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 18(6), 1277-1283.

SKIN / WOUND

• Antimicrobial action of litsea, rosemary, and lemon were demonstrated against tested skin microbes.  From: Ogbechie, A., Abioye, A. O., Shen, J., & Laird, K. (2017). Antimicrobial activity of Litsea cubeba, Rosmarinus officinalis and Citrus lemon essential oils against five skin-infection related pathogens. Phytochemical Society of Europe.

By: Kathy Sadowski

Updated: 9/15/19