Essential Oils-Loaded Polymer Particles: Preparation, Characterization and Antimicrobial Property

Abstract

In the last few years, essential oils (EOs) derived from plants have aroused great interest due to their well-known antimicrobial activity. Unfortunately, they present several limitations in their use, such as photosensitivity, temperature sensitivity, high volatility, and poor water solubility. The encapsulation technique represents a good solution to these problems and ensures protection of the functional properties of essential oils. In this work, bergamot essential oil (BEO) and sweet orange essential oil (OEO) loaded-Eudragit® RS 100 (EuRS100) nanoparticles (NPs) were prepared by using the nanoprecipitation technique. We obtained nanoparticles characterized by a mean diameter of 57 to 208 nm and a positive surface charge (39 to 74 mV). The antibacterial activity of the obtained systems against Escherichia coli was in vitro investigated. We demonstrated that both orange and bergamot essential oils were successfully encapsulated and our nanoparticles have good antibacterial activity. Finally, in order to evaluate the potential applicability of OEONps to prolong fresh orange juice shelf-life, survival of E. coli during a storage period of one week at 25 °C was investigated: Orange essential oil-loaded nanoparticles (OEONPs) have been able to prolong the orange juice shelf life.

Polymeric nanoparticles loaded with Baccharis dracunculifolia DC essential oil: Preparation, characterization, and antibacterial activity in milk

“…Other studies employing the same method and polymer obtained EE values ranging from 58% to 96% by encapsulating bergamot or orange oil at similar concentrations to this study, 300 and 400 mg (Froiio et al, 2019), and EE at 99.9% was reported for the encapsulation of hydrophobic drugs (Santos et al, 2014). The nanoprecipitation method was considered ideal for encapsulating hydrophobic substances due to their low diffusion in the aqueous phase during production (Crucho & Barros, 2017;Pinto Reis et al, 2006).…”

“…High values of ζ were also reported for Eudragit RS100 nanoparticles containing bergamot or orange oil, ranging between +39 and +74 mV (Froiio et al, 2019). This parameter is useful for predicting the stability of colloidal suspensions, and its value corresponds to the electric potential difference between the nanoparticles and the liquid medium where they are dispersed.…”

“…However, some inhibitory effect of N-B against S. aureus and S. Enteritidis was observed, with a reduction of 2.3 log and 4.0 log compared to control, respectively, at 10 hr. The inhibitory action of N-B may be related to Eudragit RS100, which due to its cationic characteristic can interact with the negatively charged bacterial surface, causing damage to the cell wall (Dalcin et al, 2017;Froiio et al, 2019). Recently, this polymer was associated with antibacterial action against Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 (Dalcin et al, 2017) and Escherichia coli (Froiio et al, 2019).…”

“…The inhibitory action of N-B may be related to Eudragit RS100, which due to its cationic characteristic can interact with the negatively charged bacterial surface, causing damage to the cell wall (Dalcin et al, 2017;Froiio et al, 2019). Recently, this polymer was associated with antibacterial action against Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA01 (Dalcin et al, 2017) and Escherichia coli (Froiio et al, 2019). In this scenario, Eudragit RS100 as a wall material, besides protecting the encapsulated material, may have some synergistic effect on the antibacterial action of N-EO.…”

pH‐Sensitive methacrylic acid–methyl methacrylate copolymer Eudragit L100 and dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate, butyl methacrylate, and methyl methacrylate tri‐copolymer Eudragit E100

“…In fact, polymethyl methacrylate derivatives have been used to encapsulate active molecules using double emulsion solvent diffusion, double emulsion solvent evaporation, and nanoprecipitation processes . This last process has been largely studied and used to encapsulate hydrophobic active molecules . The most used polymethyl methacrylate polymers are named EUDRAGIT .…”