The self-assembly of active components of traditional Chinese medicine has been confirmed to exist in decoctions, which ensures the effectiveness of active components of traditional decoctions, improves bioavailability, and has the effect of enhancing efficacy and reducing toxicity. As an important pharmacodynamic component, essential oil is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions such as relieving exterior syndrome, resolving dampness, inducing resuscitation and regulating qi. Although essential oil has the characteristics of easy volatilization, it does not completely volatilize during the decoction process and continues to exert its efficacy. This phenomenon suggests that essential oil may form an “oil-active molecule” complex through self-assembly with other components in a complex decoction system to achieve the stabilization of essential oil molecules. Based on the theory of molecular self-assembly of traditional Chinese medicine, it is speculated that the stable state of “compatible combination” may be related to the structure of essential oil, the interaction of multiple components and the solution state. Based on the research status and challenges in the field of self-assembly of traditional Chinese medicine, this paper focuses on the “oil-active molecule” complexes existing in the decoction co-decoction system, aiming to clarify the active components, forces and regulatory strategies of self-assembly, and systematically explore the potential and progress of self-assembly technology applied to the stabilization of essential oil of traditional Chinese medicine.

volatile oil  /  stability  /  decoction  /  self-assembly  /  nano-phase state  /  “oil-active molecule” complex