Biofilm formation by AD-associated staphylococci almost certainly plays a major role in the occlusion of sweat ducts and leads to inflammation and pruritus. We believe the environmental hit in AD relates to staphylococci and their biofilms, which occlude sweat ducts.
There is an urgent need to develop biodegradable and nontoxic materials from biopolymers and nature-derived antimicrobials to enhance food safety and quality. In this study, electrospinning was used as a one-step, scalable, green synthesis approach to engineer antimicrobial fibers from zein using nontoxic organic solvents and a cocktail of nature-derived antimicrobials which are all FDA-classified Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) for food use. Morphological and physicochemical properties of fibers, as well as the dissolution kinetics of antimicrobials were assessed along with their antimicrobial efficacy using state of the art analytical and microbiological methods. A cocktail of nature-derived antimicrobials was developed and included thyme oil, citric acid, and nisin. Its ability to inactivate a broad-spectrum of with food-related pathogens was demonstrated. Morphological characterization of the electrospun antimicrobial fibers revealed bead-free fibers with a small average diameter of 165 nm, whereas physicochemical characterization showed high surface area-to-volume ratio (specific surface area:21.91 m2/g) and presence of antimicrobial analytes in the fibers. The antimicrobials exhibited initial rapid release from the fibers in 2 h into various food simulants. Furthermore, the antimicrobial fibers effectively reduced E. coli and L. innocua populations by ∼5 logs for after 24 h and 1 h of exposure, respectively. More importantly, due to the small diameter and high surface area-to-volume ratio of the fibers, only miniscule quantities of fiber mass and antimicrobials per surface area (2.50 mg/cm2 of fibers) are needed for pathogen inactivation. The scalability of this fiber synthesis process was also demonstrated using a multineedle injector with production yield up to 1 g/h. This study shows the potential of using nature-derived biopolymers and antimicrobials to synthesize fibers for sustainable food packaging materials.
Despite the progress in the area of food safety, foodborne diseases still represent a massive challenge to the public health systems worldwide, mainly due to the substantial inefficiencies across the farm-to-fork continuum. Here, we report the development of a nano-carrier platform, for the targeted and precise delivery of antimicrobials for the inactivation of microorganisms on surfaces using Engineered Water Nanostructures (EWNS). An aqueous suspension of an active ingredient (AI) was used to synthesize iEWNS, with the 'i' denoting the AI used in their synthesis, using a combined electrospray and ionization process. The iEWNS possess unique, activeingredient-dependent physicochemical properties: i) they are engineered to have a tunable size in the nanoscale; ii) they have excessive electric surface charge, and iii) they contain both the reactive oxygen species (ROS) formed due to the ionization of deionized (DI) water, and the AI used in their synthesis. Their charge can be used in combination with an electric field to target them onto a surface of interest. In this approach, a number of nature-inspired antimicrobials, such as H 2 O 2 , lysozyme, citric acid, and their combination, were used to synthesize a variety of iEWNS-based nano-sanitizers. It was demonstrated through foodborne-pathogen-inactivation experiments that due to the targeted and precise delivery, and synergistic effects of AI and ROS incorporated in the iEWNS structure, a pico-to nanogram-level dose of the AI delivered to the surface using this nano-carrier platform is capable of achieving 5-log reductions in minutes of exposure time. This aerosol-based, yet 'dry' intervention approach using iEWNS nano-carrier platform offers advantages over current 'wet' techniques that are prevalent commercially, which require grams of the AI to achieve similar inactivation, leading to increased chemical risks and chemical waste byproducts. Such a targeted nano-carrier approach has the potential to revolutionize the delivery of antimicrobials for sterilization in the food industry.
Engineered water nanostructures (EWNS) synthesized utilizing electrospray and ionization of water, have been, recently, shown to be an effective, green, antimicrobial platform for surface and air disinfection, where reactive oxygen species (ROS), generated and encapsulated within the particles during synthesis, were found to be the main inactivation mechanism. Herein, the antimicrobial potency of the EWNS was further enhanced by integrating electrolysis, electrospray and ionization of de-ionized water in the EWNS synthesis process. Detailed physicochemical characterization of these enhanced EWNS (eEWNS) was performed using state-of-the-art analytical methods and has shown that, while both size and charge remain similar to the EWNS (mean diameter of 13 nm and charge of 13 electrons), they possess a three times higher ROS content. The increase of the ROS content as a result of the addition of the electrolysis step before electrospray and ionization led to an increased antimicrobial ability as verified by E. coli inactivation studies using stainless steel coupons. It was shown that a 45-minute exposure to eEWNS resulted in a 4-log reduction as opposed to a 1.9-log reduction when exposed to EWNS. In addition, the eEWNS were assessed for their potency to inactivate natural microbiota (total viable and yeast and mold counts), as well as, inoculated E.coli on the surface of fresh organic blackberries. The results showed a 97% (1.5-log) inactivation of the total viable count, a 99% (2-log) reduction in the yeast and mold count and a 2.5-log reduction of the inoculated E.coli after 45 minutes of exposure, without any visual changes to the fruit. This enhanced antimicrobial activity further underpins the EWNS platform as an effective, dry and chemical free approach suitable for a variety of food safety applications and could be ideal for delicate fresh produce that cannot withstand the classical, wet disinfection treatments.
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