Eucalyptus oil liquid
Eucalyptus oil is a distilled oil derived from the leaves of the tree Eucalyptus.
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Yellow Card reports
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Submit a Yellow Card report to the MHRA
Data from the MHRA Yellow Card scheme. A reported reaction does not necessarily mean the medicine caused it. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
EudraVigilance
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) collects suspected adverse reaction reports from across the EU/EEA through the EudraVigilance system. Search for safety data on this medicine.
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Suspected adverse reactions reported for Eucalyptus oil
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EudraVigilance data is published by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). A suspected adverse reaction is not necessarily caused by the medicine.
5 branded products available
Therapeutically similar medicines
Similarity is based on WHO Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical (ATC) classification and on a factual NHS dm+d therapeutic-grouping code prefix. Source data: NHS dm+d via TRUD (OGL v3.0), WHO ATC/DDD Index.
NHS prescribing volume and spending trends
Check stock at pharmacies and supply information
Pharmacy stock checkers
Search for this medicine at major UK pharmacy chains. These links open the retailer's own website — results depend on their current online catalogue.
Supply & safety information
Official UK regulator monitoring and safety alerts
Pharmacy links redirect to the retailer's own search and do not represent real-time stock levels. Shortage and safety information sourced from MHRA drug safety updates (gov.uk, Crown Copyright under OGL v3.0).
Codes for healthcare professionals and prescribing systems
These codes are used by healthcare IT systems and prescribers to identify this medicine.
NHS UK identifiers
SNOMED CT and dm+d codes from NHS TRUD (Technology Reference data Update Distribution), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. BNF code shown is the factual mapping value distributed by NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) in the dm+d supplementary file under OGL v3.0; it is not affiliated with, nor licensed from, the publishers of the British National Formulary.
Active and completed clinical studies from ClinicalTrials.gov
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health (NIH). Data accessed via ClinicalTrials.gov API v2. Trial information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Academic studies and reviews for this medicine's active substance
Showing the 50 most relevant studies.
Reviews & meta-analyses: 7 · Randomised trials: 4 · 1994–2026
Showing the 50 most relevant studies, sorted by most relevant.
Shakthi Elangovan, Poonam Mudgil
Antibiotics, 2023
Antimicrobial resistance is a huge threat against the public health sphere and is a major cause of global mortality and morbidity. Antibiotic misuse and overuse have led to the development of many resistant bacterial strains. One particular bacterium of concern is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is the most common resistant bacteria in humans. Antibiotic development has been unable to keep up with the rapid evolution of antibiotic-resistant organisms, and there is an urgent need to identify alternative agents to combat this problem. The purpose of this systematic review is to explore the literature on the antibacterial properties of Eucalyptus globulus essential oil against MRSA. The articles used in this review were obtained through a systematic search of the literature across four databases, with the timeline being between 2002 and 2022. Twenty studies were included in this review, which used various methods to investigate the antibacterial properties of E. globulus essential oil, alone or in combination with other agents, against MRSA. The findings suggest that E. globulus essential oil has antibacterial properties against MRSA, which can be enhanced when used in combination with other agents, such as other essential oils and antibiotics.
Abstract licence: CC BY 4.0
Ashok Kumar Dhakad, Vijay Vardhan Pandey, Sobia Beg, et al.
Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 2017
- Eucalyptus
- Oils, Volatile
- Plant Extracts
Hamayal M, Shahid W, Akhtar CH, et al.
2025
da Silva TLM, de Oliveira Capote ACM, Beltrame FL, et al.
2026
- Oils, Volatile
- Drug Delivery Systems
- Skin
Francesca Saporito, Giuseppina Sandri, Maria Cristina Bonferoni, et al.
International Journal of Nanomedicine, 2017
- Anti-Infective Agents
- Drug Carriers
- Eucalyptus
Panda PK, Sharawat IK, Panda P, et al.
2021
- Epilepsies, Partial
- Epilepsy, Generalized
- Seizures
2026
Narimani MM, Motamed-Jahromi M, Radmehr M
2026
Abderrahmen Merghni, Emira Noumi, Ons Hadded, et al.
Microbial Pathogenesis, 2018
- Eucalyptol
- Anti-Bacterial Agents
- Cyclohexanols
Mariana Dias Antunes, Guilherme da Silva Dannenberg, Ângela Maria Fiorentini, et al.
International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2017
- Electricity
- Anti-Infective Agents
- Eucalyptus
Sources: aggregated from Europe PMC (EMBL-EBI), OpenAlex, Crossref, PubMed and other open scholarly databases. Retracted articles are excluded. Study information is provided for research purposes and does not constitute medical advice.
Pharmacology and chemical data from DrugBank
Key facts
Drug status
Approved
Major interactions
None known
Half-life
7h
Mechanism
The general consensus is that the exact mechanism of action of eucalyptus oil is…
Food interactions
None known
Human targets
None mapped
Data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
Pharmacokinetics at a glance
Absorption
10 minutes
[A32235]…
Half-life
90%
Volume of distribution
90%
Metabolism
90%
Elimination
90%
Clearance
90%
Pharmacokinetic data: DrugBank · CC BY-NC 4.0
[L1857]
Known interactions with other medications. Always consult a healthcare professional.
Showing 50 of 731 interactions
The given oral LD50 for rats is 2480 mg/kg MSDS
Cineol containing preparations of eucalyptus oil may contain up to 80% (or more) 1,8-cineole [A32243] and is one of the most common types of eucalyptus oil formulations used. As an active agent indicated for relieving certain cold symptoms and/or certain muscular sprains and cramps, it is believed that eucalyptus oil may possess some antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities.
Some in vitro studies of human blood monocytes suggest a dose-dependent effect of eucalyptus oil to elicit significant inhibition of multiple cytokines, perhaps in the treatment of airway inflammation [A32244][A32245]. Moreover, other studies in animal models discuss the possibility of eucalyptus oil demonstrating anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects that potentially account for inhibiting the formation of prostaglandins and cytokines by stimulated monocytes in vitro [A32246][A32247].
Furthermore, additional studies have observed eucalyptus oil anti-viral activity against herpes simplex virus (HSV-1, HSV-2) in cell cultures as well as the demonstration of broad antimicrobial activity of eucalyptus medicinal plant extracts against Alicyclobacillus acidoterretris, Bacillus cereus, E. coli, Enterococcus faecalis, MRSA, Propionibacterium acnes, S. aureus, fungus including C. albicans isolates, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and other Gram-positive bacteria. Specific activity against periodontopathic bacteria, such as Porphyromonas gingivalis, Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans, Fusobacterium nucleatum, Streptococcus mutans, and Streptococcus sobrinus has also been observed [A32250][A32251][A32252][A32253][A32254].
How the body processes this drug — absorption, distribution, metabolism, and elimination
[A32235]
Although maximal plasma levels were demonstrated in as short a time period as 10 minutes even with thicker preparations like eucalyptus oil ointments, like many other topically applied agents, the extent of absorption is also likely largely dependent upon additional factors like the size of treated skin area, patient skin condition(s), concentrations of the applied substance, and time of exposure to the substance .
[A32235]
Currently, more data regarding the oral absorption of eucalyptus would be useful, given the relative lack of existing information .
[A32235]
Lipophilic monoterpene compound formulations of eucalyptus oil seems to be readily absorbed orally .
[A32236]
Regardless, there is some data that suggests that the upper part of the gastrointestinal tract has no particularly significant role in the absorption of cineole based eucalyptus oil .
[A32235]
Pulmonary absorption of eucalyptus oil is also possible although little information exists regarding this element at the moment. Nevertheless, 1,8-cineol (which makes up to as much as 90% of most commonly used cineole-based eucalyptus oils) [A32227] appears to be well absorbed via inhalation with peak plasma levels observed reportedly at 18 minutes .
[A32240]
Given the three main constituents from Eucalyptus globulus Labill fruits, the intestinal absorption of macrocarpal A (M-A), macrocarpal B (M-B), and cypellocarpa C (Cy-C) is predominantly via passive diffusion while Cy-C demonstrates some partly ATP-dependent absorption .
[A32242]
[A32227]
[A32227]
[L1854]
In rats, 2-hydroxycineole, 3-hydroxycineole, and 1,8--dihydroxycineol-9-oic acid were identified as main urinary metabolites .
[L1854]
After oral administration to brushtail possums, p-cresol, 9-hydroxycineole, and Cineole-9-oic acid were found in urine .
[L1854]
Rabbits given eucalyptol by savage excreted 2-exo- and 2-endo-hydroxycineole in the urine .
[L1854]
The monterpene bicyclic ketone verbenone is a known component in eucalyptus globules .
[A32241]
In one study, this component was observed to be converted to 10-hydroxyverbenone by rat and human liver microsomal cytochrome P450 enzymes, and indicated that CYP2A6 is a principal enzyme in verbenone hydroxylation in humans .
[A32241]
[A32227]
[A32227]
Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
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Chemical identifiers
CAS, UNII, InChI Key and database cross-references
Linked compound data from DrugBank Open Data (CC BY-NC 4.0)
Eucalyptus oil
DrugBank citations
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Structured knowledge from the free knowledge base
Molecular structure
Linked open data from Wikidata (Q511687), a free and open knowledge base operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Data is available under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Public Domain Dedication. Molecular structure images from Wikimedia Commons.