Essential oils: a traditionally realized natural resource for food preservation

Since the beginning of the food industry, synthetic preservatives have been used to prevent food spoilage caused by microbial and oxidative deterioration. In view of the recent consumer awareness towards green consumerism, some of the prevalent synthetic preservatives are not reliable in the present day. In this context, essential oils of aromatic plants often having strong antimicrobial and antioxidant potential may be used as natural preservatives to realize the consumer demand for safe, healthy and nutritious food. The current existing limitations of essential oil-based preservatives such as low water solubility, strong organoleptic characteristics (flavour and aroma), low stability, etc. could be addressed by the modern advanced technologies such as nanoencapsulation, edible coatings and controlled release systems. This commentary provides an overview on the prospects, existing limitations and future research direction towards the development of essential oil-based preservatives.