Nature has always produced almost every organic substance known. The plant kingdom is responsible for contributing with secondary metabolites administration; many of them offer a great added value due to their application in medicine, cosmetics, aliments and agrochemicals. Plants have their own defenses that normally protect them from other plants and predators.
These defenses have a chemical nature and, generally, involve substances of secondary metabolism (CROTEAU et al., 2000; PINTO et al., 2002).
The phytogenic additives are substances mainly volatile and lipophilic (SIMÕES C.M.O., SPITZER V., 1999), the majority of which are terpene hydrocarbons, simple alcohols, ketones, phenols and esters with pharmacologically active compounds. These additives present a significant variation in the chemical composition of the vegetal, depending on climate conditions, incidence of light, phase of harvest, localization or storage conditions (APPLEGATE et al., 2010).
