16Recently there has been an increased interest towards the biological activities of essential oils 17 (EOs). However, EOs are unstable and susceptible to degradation when exposed to 18 environmental stresses like oxygen, temperature, and light. Therefore, attempts have been 19 made to preserve them through encapsulation in various colloidal systems such as 20 microcapsules, nanospheres, nanoemulsions, liposomes, and molecular inclusion complexes. 21 This review focuses on various techniques used for the encapsulation of EOs, potential 22 applications in food, and their behaviours/trends after encapsulation. The encapsulation 23 efficiency, particle size, and physical stability of EOs encapsulated in colloidal systems is 24 dependent on the kind of technique and the type and concentration/ratio of emulsifier/wall 25 material used. Moreover, the benefits associated after encapsulation, namely bioavailability, 26 controlled release, and protection of EOs against environmental stresses are discussed. The 27 applications of encapsulated EOs are also summarized in this review. Encapsulated EOs are 28promising agents that can be used to increase the anti-microbial, antifungal, antiviral, and 29 pesticidal activities of EOs in real food systems, to study their action mechanism, and to 30 provide nonlethal therapeutic agents to treat several diseases. 31

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