Patchouli Essential Oil and Mood: A Scientific Look at How It May Support Emotional Balance

For centuries, patchouli has been used to anchor the senses—a deep, earthy aroma associated with meditation, stillness, and a sense of grounded calm. But beyond its sensuous scent and ancient mystique, research suggests that patchouli essential oil may also influence something far more subtle: the brain’s own mood chemistry.

A 2018 study published in the Journal of Physiological Sciences investigated how inhaling patchouli oil affected levels of monoamine oxidase-A (MAO-A) – an enzyme that breaks down key neurotransmitters like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine—the very chemicals that help regulate mood, emotion, and stress response.

In their experiment, researchers measured MAO-A activity in the blood platelets (a common proxy for what may be happening in the brain). The results were striking: the inhalation of patchouli oil significantly reduced MAO-A activity, suggesting that more of these mood-enhancing neurotransmitters remained active in the body. In essence, patchouli may help the brain hold on to the chemicals that make us feel emotionally balanced and at ease.

These findings offer intriguing support for what aromatherapists have long believed—that patchouli essential oil's calming influence goes deeper than scent alone. Its complex chemical makeup may be working quietly in the background to ease overstimulation, settle emotional highs and lows, and support a more stable inner state.

So when you reach for patchouli—whether diffused into your evening ritual, inhaled during a moment of overwhelm, or worn as a personal scent—you may be doing more than engaging your senses. You might also be supporting your nervous system’s natural rhythm of emotional regulation, one slow, steady breath at a time.

Source: Journal of Physiological Sciences