Óleos essenciais na indústria de alimentos

Abstract

Essential oils, defined as secondary metabolites, found mainly in aromatic plants, are extracted from various segments such as flowers, buds, leaves, stems, branches, seeds, fruits, roots and bark. These oils have made a significant contribution to the food industry in the physical-chemical and microbiological conservation sector, as their use is presented as one of the technologically and financially viable alternatives to conventional preservatives used by the industry. This work aimed to present a survey of the current situation and recent advances in relation to the use of essential oils in the food industry, especially in Brazil, adopting scientific journals, articles and books published on the subject as analysis criteria. The IBGE Automatic Recovery System – SIDRA was also used through the Annual Industrial Product Survey – PIAProduto, which is part of the Program for the Modernization of Economic Statistics.