Essential oil are unstable and fragile volatile compounds. Consequently, they could be degraded easily (by oxidation, volatilization, heating, light) if they are not protected from external factors. Such protection could increase their action duration and provide a controlled release. EOs stability could be increased by encapsulation. Encapsulation was also shown to improve the antibacterial activity of several antibiotics. The aim of this review is to report the EOs properties, the ways of their extraction, their encapsulation processes and applications.