Encapsulation of Essential Oils in Lipid-Based Nanosystems

Abstract

Essential oils (EOs) are hydrophobic, volatile, and odorous liquids composed of complex mixtures of organic chemicals produced by the plant’s secondary metabolism. These compounds have a broad spectrum of proven biological activities, mainly antifungal, antibacterial insecticides, antivirals, antioxidants, among others, and have attracted significant attention from academia, industry, and consumers. The major EO constituents belong to terpenes, terpenoids, phenylpropanoids, oxygenated substances (e.g. alcohols, esters, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, lactones, phenolic ethers), or sulphur- and nitrogen-containing compounds. Most of these substances are sensitive to oxygen, light, heat, and humidity and may experience significant instability problems when in contact with other materials or external agents. The EOs’ incorporation in lipid nanosystems such as emulsions, liposomes, micelles, solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs), and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) is a promising strategy to enhance their physicochemical properties, stability, aqueous solubility, bioavailability, and biological activity. This chapter presented a comprehensive overview of the general aspects of EOs, focusing on their encapsulation in lipid nanosystems, describing several systems and production methods and their potential of application in food and pharmaceutical products. The production of particulate dispersible lipid nanosystems loaded with EOs, describing several particle formation methods, is also addressed.