Research Progress on the Effects of Food-based Emulsifiers on the Stability of Plant Essential Oils
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Abstract:
Plant essential oils have good biological activities such as antibacterial and antioxidant activities, and are an excellent source of green additives such as natural preservatives and antioxidants. However, due to the characteristics of small molecular weight and large proportion of non-polar structure, plant essential oils have drawbacks such as highly volatile nature and insolubility in water, which limits their practical uses. Currently, technical techniques like emulsification and encapsulation provide research directions for solving the above-mentioned issues; Nevertheless, the crucial step in resolving the problems of plant essential oils is to screen materials with good emulsifying property, film-forming capacity, and safety in the research process. It was found that food-derived macromolecules, including proteins, starch, cellulose, and lipids, have potential advantages in improving the volatility and weak hydrophilicity of essential oils. Therefore, this paper reviews the sources and major active components of plant essential oils, focuses on the emulsification mechanism and applications of food-derived macromolecules on plant essential oils, and summarizes the existing problems and research directions for improving the stability of plant essential oils by using food-derived emulsifiers, so as to provide a reference for the development of plant essential oil preservatives and antioxidants.
