Enhancing essential oils: advanced extraction, sustainability, and nanotechnology for optimal use

Our findings provide new insights into how integrating advanced extraction methods with nanotechnology enhances essential oil stability, bioavailability, and safety, offering significant potential for sustainable pharmaceutical, therapeutic, and environmental applications Essential oils (EOs), volatile secondary metabolites extracted from plant parts such as leaves, seeds, and roots, are gaining prominence due to their broad therapeutic potential-including antifungal, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. Conventional extraction techniques like steam distillation and cold pressing typically yield 0.1-2.0% EO depending on plant species, part used, and method applied. However, EOs suffer from physicochemical limitations such as volatility, oxidative instability, and low bioavailability, which restrict their direct application in pharmaceutical and consumer products. Recent advances in nanotechnology-particularly nanoemulsions, liposomes, and polymeric nanoparticles-have demonstrated the ability to enhance EO bioavailability by up to 40%, prolong release times, and improve chemical stability under environmental stress. These encapsulation systems also reduce cytotoxicity and degradation while facilitating targeted delivery. This review critically evaluates modern EO extraction strategies, including green and sustainable approaches, and discusses nanoencapsulation technologies that optimize EO functionality. The emphasis focuses on safety considerations, physicochemical enhancements, and the translational potential of integrating EO-nanotechnology in medical and environmental applications.