Preservatives may be antimicrobial, which inhibit the growth of bacteria and fungi on food substances, or antioxidants, which can also inhibit the oxidation of food constituents. The use of chemical preservatives in food, such as benzoic acid, nitrites, butylated hydroxyanisole, and butylated hydroxytoluene, has been of enormous value to humankind. Although most chemical preservatives are now considered to be without potential adverse effects, there have been problems concerning the safety of some of these chemicals. Some essential oils, such as aniseed, calms, camphor, cedar wood, cinnamon, eucalyptus, geranium, lavender, lemon, lemongrass, lime, mint, nutmeg, rosemary, basil, vetiver, and winter green traditionally are used by people in different parts of the world, and these vegetable oils have been discovered to possess antibacterial and antifungal activities and, as a result, are suitable as natural food preservatives. The potentials of vegetable oils as natural preservatives are reviewed and discussed in this paper. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.