Bicompartmental microparticles loaded with antibacterial agents for prolonging food shelf life

Abstract

The aim of this work was to fabricate disk-shaped bicompartmental microparticles loaded with antibacterial agent (benzoic acid) using electrohydrodynamic co-jetting technique for prolonging food shelf life. The particles were composed of a semi-crystalline polymer (polylactide, PLA) and an amorphous polymer (poly(lactide-co-glycolide), 50:50, PLGA) as individual compartment to encapsulate antibacterial active in either of them with a high active loading (30 wt%) and encapsulation efficiency (> 94%), and the purpose was to release the active at a desired rate depending on its location and pH of the environment. In order to utilize their controlled release characteristics (100% release over 60 days at neutral pH), the antibacterial activity of the particles was evaluated against both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria over a period of 30 days at 37 °C and ~ 100% bacterial growth reduction was observed. Their prolonged antibacterial activity was also demonstrated on a food model (watermelon juice) over the stipulated time period.