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

Francesca Froiio,Lorianne Ginot,Donatella Paolino,Noureddine Lebaz,Abdelhamid Elaissari,Abderrazzak Bentaher,Hatem Fessi

doi:10.3390/polym11061017

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.

Highlights

The antimicrobial activity of natural essential oils and their compounds against food pathogenic microorganisms has been known for centuries [1,2]
Bergamot essential oil was kindly provided by Bergamotto (Reggio Calabria, Italy) and sweet orange essential oil was kindly provided by Satyroi Coop.Soc. a r.l. (Reggio Calabria, Italy)
For nanoparticles containing essential oil, the hydrodynamic size essential oil, leading to large particles and large size distributions compared to empty nanoparticles

Summary

Introduction

The antimicrobial activity of natural essential oils and their compounds against food pathogenic microorganisms has been known for centuries [1,2]. Citrus bergamia (bergamot) and Citrus sinensis (sweet orange) are two plants belonging to the Rutaceae family. There are a lot of scientific works in which the antibacterial efficacy of Citrus essential oils has been proven [4,5,6,7]. Deans and Ritchie, and other authors have shown the antimicrobial activity of Citrus essential oils against several food-poisoning bacteria [8,9,10,11]. Tao et al demonstrated orange essential oil antibacterial activity against some of the main bacteria responsible for food spoilage, like

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