Insights into Essential Oil and Their Electroactive Constituents: Recent Progress and Challenges in Electro-Sensing Strategies for Food Analysis

Essential oils are extracted from various parts of plants and have many beneficial properties and applications. These include aromatherapy, healthcare, cosmetics, fragrances, agriculture, household cleaning products, and the food industry. Due to their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, essential oils are suitable for use as natural flavorings and preservatives, ensuring food quality maintenance and facilitating clean-label product production. In this context, assessing the quality of essential oils is of paramount importance. Among the various analytical methods, electrochemical methods stand out for their simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and environmental friendliness. Consequently, this review examines the applications, advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of electroanalytical methods proposed to quantify major volatile, electroactive components and determine their antioxidant properties. The objective of this evaluation is to establish a framework for future research that will address existing gaps and shortcomings in electroanalytical methodologies.