Preface

Terpenes belong to the diverse class of chemical constituents isolated from materials found in nature (plants, fungi, insects, marine organisms, plant pathogens, animals and endo‐ phytes). Theses metabolites have simple to complex structures derived from Isopentyl di‐ phosphate (IPP), dimethyl allyl diphosphate (DMAPP), mevalonate and deoxyxylulose biosynthetic pathways. Terpenes play a very important role in human health and have sig‐ nificant biological activities (anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti‐ allergic, skin permeation enhancer, anti-diabetic, immunomodulatory, anti-insecticidal). According to new research, terpenes cineole (a spicy eucalyptus-derived flavoring oil) are ready to be directly converted to biofuel as soon as they are produced. This book provides an overview and highlights recent research in the phytochemical and biological understand‐ ing of terpenes and terpenoid and explains the most essential functions of these kinds of secondary metabolites isolated from natural sources.

#### **Dr. Shagufta Perveen (MACS-USA, MRSC-UK, MIUPAC-USA)**

Department of Pharmacognosy College of Pharmacy King Saud University Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

#### **Prof. Dr. Areej Al-Taweel**

Department of Pharmacognosy College of Pharmacy King Saud University Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**Introductory Chapter: Terpenes and Terpenoids**

**Introductory Chapter: Terpenes and Terpenoids**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.79683

Natural products are the compounds which isolate from different natural sources such as plants, animals, microbes, insects, plant pathogens, and endophytes and marine. These are known as secondary metabolites since they are formed due to the enzymatic resections of primary metabolites (amino acids, sugars, vitamins, etc.). Terpenes belong to the biggest

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2018 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.79683

**1. Terpenes and terpenoids**

**Figure 1.** Classification of terpenes.

Shagufta Perveen

Shagufta Perveen

#### **Introductory Chapter: Terpenes and Terpenoids Introductory Chapter: Terpenes and Terpenoids**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.79683
