Application of encapsulated essential oils as antimicrobial agents in food packaging

- Essential oils have great potential as natural antimicrobial agents in food packaging.
- Micro and nanoencapsulation techniques improve the biological activities of essential oils.
- Essential oils nanoparticles applied to food packaging comprise a new class of effective antimicrobial nanocomposites.

Recently natural antimicrobials have attracted a great deal of attention from the food industry. Innovations in food packaging have also been focused on the incorporation of these active additives in polymer matrices with the purpose of extending foods shelf life. Essential oils (EOs) from aromatic plants are potent antimicrobial agents. However, their volatility, low solubility in water, and susceptibility for oxidation limits their use. EOs encapsulation is one of the options to reduce these effects and to improve their biological activities. In this review, the relevance of EOs encapsulation and their incorporation into food packaging are discussed. Application of active antimicrobial packaging, based on encapsulated EOs, to foods is also addressed to evaluate their influence in food shelf life.