Essential oils have a long history in their variety of applications. Although essential oils of
various herbs and spices from other parts of the world have shown antimicrobial effects,
those from Malaysian herbs remain underreported. Thus, can be further utilized in the
search for novel bioactive compounds as natural antimicrobials to fulfil the consumers'
demand for safer, healthier, and higher‐quality foods with longer shelf life. In the present
work, the essential oils from ten herbs and spices namely betel, cinnamon, clove,
coriander, galangal, ginger, lemongrass, lime, nutmeg, and turmeric, selected based on
their abundance and economic importance, were analysed by gas chromatography and
mass spectrometry. A total of 120 bioactive compounds were detected. The major (>10%)
bioactive compounds were anethole, 26.25% (betel), cinnamaldehyde, 63.39%
(cinnamon), eugenol, 87.16% (clove), linalool, 54.79% (coriander), propenoic acid,
29.56% (galangal), α-zingiberene, 26.32% (ginger), geranial, 42.61% (lemongrass),
limonene, 39.84% (lime), β-phellandrene, 27.80% (nutmeg), and ar-turmerone, 41.81%
(turmeric). All essential oils also yielded minor (<10%) bioactive compounds of different
classes. Some of these major and minor bioactive compounds have been reported to exert
fungicidal/fungistatic effects and could be an excellent candidate in the development of
efficient fungal spoilage control strategies such as an active food packaging system.
The Use of Essential Oils in Active Food Packaging: A Review of Recent Studies
