Catnip essential oil: There is more to it than making your cat go crazy

Abstract

Catnip (Nepeta cataria) essential oil shows a wide range of biological activities, not only cat stimulation, but also relaxant, antispasmodic, insect repellent, and allelopathic activities. The essential oil is generally dominated by nepetalactone isomers, but the compositions have shown wide variation depending on phenological cycle and geographical location. Numerous other Nepeta species are known and many of those have been characterized in terms of essential oil compositions and biological activities. This review presents an overview of the volatile phytochemistry of catnip (Nepeta cataria), its biological activities, and a survey of recent reports on Nepeta essential oils.