# Encapsulation of Fennel Essential Oil in Calcium Alginate Microbeads via Electrostatic Extrusion
## 3 Results and Discussion
### Characterization of the Essential Oil by GC-MS
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**No.**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**Compound**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**RI**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**RT**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**\(p\)-Value**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Initial**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**Encapsulated**} \\  & & & & & **Femel EO** & **Femel EO** \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{**mg/mL**} \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{Monoterpene hydrocarbons} \\
1 & \(\alpha\)-Pinene & 937 & 5.030 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 68.14 \(\pm\) 0.60 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 12.14 \(\pm\) 0.09 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
2 & Camphene & 953 & 5.398 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 1.84 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.72 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
3 & Sabinene & 976 & 6.002 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 0.63 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.42 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
4 & \(\beta\)-Pinene & 980 & 6.109 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 2.79 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.01 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
5 & Myrcene & 992 & 6.459 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 10.63 \(\pm\) 0.14 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 3.96 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
6 & \(\alpha\)-Phellandrene & 1006 & 6.862 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 6.12 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 2.70 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
7 & \(\alpha\)-Terpinene & 1019 & 7.236 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 1.19 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.48 \(\pm\) 0.05 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
8 & \(p\)-Cymene & 1027 & 7.479 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 1.73 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.05 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
9 & D-Limonene & 1031 & 7.609 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 30.15 \(\pm\) 0.32 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 7.78 \(\pm\) 0.08 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
11 & \(\gamma\)-Terpinene & 1062 & 8.605 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 2.00 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.41 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
12 & _cis_-Sabinene hydrate & 1070 & 8.902 & 0.002 \({}^{*}\) & 0.43 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.38 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{Oxygenated monoterpenes} \\
10 & Eucalypt & 1034 & 7.704 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 0.71 \(\pm\) 0.06 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.34 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
13 & \(L\)-Fenchone & 1089 & 9.643 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 155.50 \(\pm\) 1.23 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 88.47 \(\pm\) 0.69 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
14 & Camphor & 1146 & 11.742 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 2.06 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 1.39 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
16 & Carvone & 1243 & 15.684 & 0.404 & 1.17 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 1.15 \(\pm\) 0.03 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{**Phenylpropanoids**} \\
15 & Estragole & 1198 & 13.923 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 31.29 \(\pm\) 0.22 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 19.54 \(\pm\) 0.21 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\
18 & trans-Anethole & 1288 & 17.605 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 646.53 \(\pm\) 4.38 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 541.85 \(\pm\) 3.27 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{Others} \\
17 & \(p\)-Anisaldehyde & 1255 & 16.176 & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 20.00 \(\pm\) 0.19 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 7.56 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{Monoterpene hydrocarbons} \\  & Oxygenated monoterpenes & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 12.78 \(\pm\) 0.01 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 4.63 \(\pm\) 0.04 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\  & Phenylpropanoids & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 16.22 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 13.19 \(\pm\) 0.07 \({}^{\text{a}}\) \\  & Others & \textless{}0.001 \({}^{*}\) & 68.96 \(\pm\) 0.02 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 81.09 \(\pm\) 0.09 \({}^{\text{b}}\) \\ \hline \multicolumn{6}{c}{EO = essential oil. Results are expressed as mean \(\pm\) standard deviation. \({}^{*}\) significant at \(p\leq 0.05\). Values with different letters within row are statistically different at \(p\leq 0.05\).} \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 5: Chemical composition (mg/mL) of initial and encapsulated fennel EO obtained under optimal conditions.