Recent updates on the chemistry, bioactivities, mode of action, and industrial applications of plant essential oils

Since time immemorial, natural active compounds including essential oils (EOs) and their components have been used due to their flavor and fragrance. Out of 3000 known varieties, 300 are commercially utilized for the food and pharmaceutical industries. In recent years, studies on EOs have enormously...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Trends in Food Science & Technology 2021-04, Vol.110, p.78-89
Main Authors:	Ni, Zhi-Jing, Wang, Xin, Shen, Yi, Thakur, Kiran, Han, Jinzhi, Zhang, Jian-Guo, Hu, Fei, Wei, Zhao-Jun
Format:	Article
Language:	eng
Subjects:	Antiinfectives and antibacterials Antimicrobial activity Antioxidant Antioxidants Chemical composition Essential oils Flavor Food Food industry Food packaging Food preservation Food production Industrial applications Life extension Mode of action Nanoemulsions Oils & fats Packaging Pharmaceutical industry Phenols Shelf life Terpenes
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	Since time immemorial, natural active compounds including essential oils (EOs) and their components have been used due to their flavor and fragrance. Out of 3000 known varieties, 300 are commercially utilized for the food and pharmaceutical industries. In recent years, studies on EOs have enormously increased owing to their remarkable biological activities and health benefits. As a result, their pharmacological attributes have played an immense role to identify natural and safe alternative therapeutics to extend their industrial applications. Key findings and conclusions: This review covers the sources and composition of EOs, recent progress in their extraction methods, factors affecting their quality and yield, their most important activities, such as antioxidant and antimicrobial activities as well as their mechanisms of action. Besides, the importance of EOs in food, biomedicine, and agricultural industries is also highlighted. For the food industrial applications, we mainly aimed at the incorporation of EOs as such or as nanoemulsions into active or smart packaging with a particular emphasis on the food preservation and shelf-life extension of food products. [Display omitted] •Terpenoids are the most common of all EO compounds and vary in structure and function.•The chemical composition and yield of EOs to be mainly affected by extraction methods, geographical region and so on.•We emphasized the anti-oxidant and anti-microbial properties with a particular interest to explicate their modes of action.•We recognized the suitability of EOs in food preservation, biomedicine use, and agricultural products.
ISSN:	0924-2244 1879-3053 1464-536X