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Review
. 2025 Aug 6;14(8):803.
doi: 10.3390/antibiotics14080803.

Fully Green Particles Loaded with Essential Oils as Phytobiotics: A Review on Preparation and Application in Animal Feed

Maria Sokol  1 , Ivan Gulayev  1 , Margarita Chirkina  1 , Maksim Klimenko  1 , Olga Kamaeva  1 , Nikita Yabbarov  1 , Mariia Mollaeva  1 , Elena Nikolskaya  1
Affiliations
Review

Fully Green Particles Loaded with Essential Oils as Phytobiotics: A Review on Preparation and Application in Animal Feed

Maria Sokol et al. Antibiotics (Basel). .

Abstract

The modern livestock industry incorporates widely used antibiotic growth promoters into animal feed at sub-therapeutic levels to enhance growth performance and feed efficiency. However, this practice contributes to the emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in livestock, which may be transmitted to humans through the food chain, thereby diminishing the efficacy of antibiotics in treating bacterial infections. Current research explores the potential of essential oils from derived medicinal plants as alternative phytobiotics. This review examines modern encapsulation strategies that incorporate essential oils into natural-origin matrices to improve their stability and control their release both in vitro and in vivo. We discuss a range of encapsulation approaches utilizing polysaccharides, gums, proteins, and lipid-based carriers. This review highlights the increasing demand for antibiotic alternatives in animal nutrition driven by regulatory restrictions, and the potential benefits of essential oils in enhancing feed palatability and stabilizing the intestinal microbiome in monogastric animals and ruminants. Additionally, we address the economic viability and encapsulation efficiency of different matrix formulations.

Keywords: animal nutrition; bio-based material; encapsulation; essential oils; phytobiotics.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 7
Figure 7
Comparison of parameters for matrices derived from natural sources. The pricing data is based on analyses of costs calculated per 100 g of product, as detailed on the Sigma-Aldrich website [197]. One represents the lowest level of the trait. Five represents the highest level.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Origin, classification, and structure of antibacterial components of essential oils. EOs are volatile constituents obtained from aromatic plant material, including leaves, flowers, roots, bark, seeds, fruits, buds, and zest [20]. The most common classes of chemical compounds found in EOs are terpenoids and phenylpropanoids [21].
Figure 2
Figure 2
Mechanism of antibacterial synergistic action of essential oils and organic acids. Essential oils disrupt the bacterial cell membrane. This damage diminishes the proton-motive force and lowers intracellular ATP levels, leading to a loss of energy metabolism and, eventually, cell death [23]. Organic acids complement this effect by compromising the bacterial cell wall integrity.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Structures of different types of particles based on natural matrices.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Methods of EOs encapsulation: (A) nanoprecipitation, (B) ESE and ESD techniques, (C) electrospray technique.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Methods of EOs encapsulation: (A) thin film hydration, (B) coacervation, (C) complex coacervation, (D) spray drying.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Polysaccharides as wall materials for EOs encapsulation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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