Abstract
Essential oils are volatile liquids which evaporate and lose their pharmacological effect when exposed to the environment. The aim of this study is to protect nutmeg essential oil from environmental factors by encapsulation (shell material, sodium alginate) and determine the influence of crosslinker concentration (2%, 5% calcium chloride), different emulsifiers (polysorbate 80, sucrose esters), and magnesium aluminometasilicate on microcapsule physical parameters, encapsulation efficiency (EE), swelling index (SI), and other parameters. Nutmeg essential oil (NEO)-loaded calcium alginate microcapsules were prepared by extrusion. The swelling test was performed with and without enzymes in simulated gastric, intestinal, and gastrointestinal media. This study shows that the crosslinker concentration has a significant influence on EE, with 2% calcium chloride solution being more effective than 5%, and capsules being softer with 2% crosslinker solution. Using sucrose esters, EE is higher when polysorbate 80 is used. The swelling index is nearly three times higher in an intestinal medium without enzymes than in the medium with pancreatin. Microcapsule physical parameters depend on the excipients: the hardest capsules were obtained with the biggest amount of sodium alginate; the largest with magnesium aluminometasilicate. Sucrose esters and magnesium aluminometasilicate are new materials used in extrusion.
Highlights
Essential oils are unstable materials; they have to be protected from environmental influence because when volatile compounds evaporate spreading in the air, the effect of the essential oil is reduced, and its use is pointless
Some pilot research has been done about sodium alginate amount in emulsion with nutmeg essential oil, and it was determined that 4% solution of sodium alginate is the best media for dilution with distilled water and other added materials
Sodium alginate solution was prepared by not stirring or heating; instead, the powder of sodium alginate was spread on the water surface and left there for 24 h at room temperature, and the glass was covered to avoid environmental factors
Summary
Essential oils are unstable materials; they have to be protected from environmental influence because when volatile compounds evaporate spreading in the air, the effect of the essential oil is reduced, and its use is pointless. Essential oils contain many chemical compounds (monoterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated sesquiterpenes, and others) which are not stable [1,2,3]. Essential oils have an odor or flavor [4] but they have antibacterial [5,6], antioxidant [2,7], and many pharmaceutical effects: they decrease pain [8,9], reduce inflammation [10], and promote wound healing [11,12]. For nutmeg, its essential oil has antibacterial, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and insecticidal effects [1,13]. It is important to protect the properties of the essential oil in order to not lose its biological effect. In this research, two new agents were used—magnesium aluminometasilicate (absorbent) and sucrose esters (emulsifier)
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