The electrospinning technology (short for electrostatic spinning) has attracted great interest in recent decades. Compared with other processes for nanofiber fabrication, such as self-assembly and phase separation ,electrospinning has the advantages of versatility and flexibility. It offers the possibility to form various fiber networks, including non-woven, ligned or patterned fiber meshes, randomly distributed three dimensional structures, sub-micron spring and convoluted fiber. In food processing and packaging, electrospun fiber are used for the encapsulation of plant extracts with the aim of preserving the integrity and controlling the release of the active ingredients. Crude extracts are easily obtained by organic solvent extraction from fresh plants or from milled dried plants. Several crude plant extracts have been successfully encapsulated into electrospun fiber, such as Canella sciatica, Baicalein, Green tea, Garcinia mangostana, Tecomella undulata, aloe vera, Grewia mollis, chamomile, grape seed, Calendula officinalis, Indigofera aspalathoides, Azadirachta indica, Memecylon edule and Myristica andamanica. In order to prolong the shelf-life, increase the thermal stability, and limit the volatility of natural compounds, cyclodextrin inclusion complexes of plant extracts are particularly used in food industry. As discussed in this study, diverse studies have demonstrated that naturally-derived bioactive agents are valid alternatives to synthetic counterparts for applications that include wound management, tissue engineering and food industry. In particular, the possibility to encapsulate them into polymeric nanofibres using the electrospinning technique has promoted the manufacturing of scaffolds and membranes with improved antimicrobial activity. Studies on crude plant extracts, essential oils, or single chemical components have pointed out that their encapsulation in electrospun fiber of carefully chosen polymeric matrices can induce a much-controlled release of the active ingredients. This methodology can ensure that the antimicrobial activity is more effective in the long term, thanks to the slow degradation of the polymer matrix, which progressively expose the active component. Moreover, the electrospinning of natural ingredients has been proposed for preserving the stability and integrity of food and for developing active packaging systems that prolong food shelf-life and avoid biofilm formation.