Abstract
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Abstract Background Recently, the production of ‘clean label’ products as a potential strategy to eliminate the generation and utilization of synthetic ingredients (particularly preservatives) requires a lot of attention in different industries, including the food industry. Plant-based compounds, including essential oils (EOs), as well as their main components, have attracted great interest owing to their known characteristics, such as their antimicrobial and antioxidant activity. These lipophilic compounds, however, need to be incorporated into a delivery system to improve their functionality, application and consumer perception. Many different colloidal systems can be used as promising carriers to deliver EOs to food products. Scope and approach In this review, the current state-of-the-art in the formulation of colloidal delivery systems for food products to encapsulate EOs is reviewed and their pros and cons in terms of formulation and functionality are given. Ultimately, some real food applications of different formulations are introduced. Key findings and conclusions Oil-in-water nanoemulsions and nanoparticles loaded with EOs are the most commonly utilized delivery systems particularly for the food industry. Recent research is more focused on the design of novel carrier systems, including surfactant-based systems, fibers, films, and oleogels. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of research about the physicochemical stability as well as the functionality of delivery systems when they are embedded in a complex matrix of food ingredients. EO-loaded colloidal dispersion has the potential to be efficient partial or complete alternatives for synthetic preservatives depending on the final product, the characteristics of the delivery system, and food regulations.