Development of bioactive/active additives based on essential oils: A review

Abstract

The use of bioactive/active additives has been increasing in recent years, especially those derived from medicinal plants such as essential oils. However, due to essential oil oxidation it is necessary to protect it by encapsulation techniques such as: emulsion, spray- and/or freeze-drying as the most economical techniques. On the other hand, an important factor is to determine the appropriate wall material to obtain a prolonged or controlled release in the food or in the organism. Therefore, several factors affect the release of the compounds such as the type, amount of wall material and/or combination of wall materials. Therefore, the knowledge of all the aforementioned factors is important in order to make an adequate selection for the development of a bioactive/active additive based on essential oils.