Rosemary essential oil as a natural additive in food industry: recent developments in encapsulation techniques

Simić, Pavle (author), Poklar Ulrih, Nataša (author)

Rosemary essential oil (REO) is a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), predominantly oxygenated monoterpenes such as 1,8-cineole, camphor, and borneol, which together exhibit antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. These properties make REO a promising natural alternative to synthetic food additives; however, its high volatility, low water solubility, chemical instability, and intense aroma significantly limit its direct application in food systems. Encapsulation has therefore emerged as a key strategy to enhance REO stability, preserve bioactivity, and enable controlled release while reducing sensory impact. This review critically examines conventional and advanced techniques for REO encapsulation. These techniques are comparatively evaluated by addressing their advantages and limitations, with particular emphasis on wall material selection and its role in controlling release behaviour and functional performance in real food matrices. In addition to summarising current applications in food preservation, functional ingredients, and active packaging, this review highlights a key research gap: the limited post-encapsulation characterisation of REO chemical composition, especially minor VOCs responsible for synergistic biological effects. Addressing this gap is essential for the design of encapsulation systems that effectively integrate aroma, preservation, and functionality in clean-label food products.

• Language: English
• Keywords: essential oil, encapsulation, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antimicrobial, 1, 8-cineole
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: BF - Biotechnical Faculty
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2026
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: 23 str.
• Numbering: Vol. 15, iss. 5, art. 893
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-181663
• UDC: 665.52/.54:615.014.6:664.0
• ISSN on article: 2304-8158
• DOI: 10.3390/foods15050893
• COBISS.SI-ID: 270684419
• Publication date in RUL: 10.04.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Foods
• Shortened title: Foods
• Publisher: MDPI
• ISSN: 2304-8158
• COBISS.SI-ID: 512252472

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: eterična olja, eterično olje rožmarina, enkapsulacija, antioksidativna učinkovitost, protimikrobne snovi

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Funding programme: HE
• Project number: 101186975
• Name: Metabolomics in food and nutrition
• Acronym: Foodomics

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P4-0121
• Name: Biokemijska in biofizikalno-kemijska karakterizacija naravnih snovi