Abstract
Using butyl methacrylate (BMA) and styrene (St) as monomers and divinylbenzene (DVB) as a crosslinking agent, P(St-BMA) microspheres were prepared by suspension polymerization. Tea tree oil (TTO) microspheres were prepared by adsorbing TTO on P(St-BMA) microspheres. The structure and surface morphology of P(St-BMA) microspheres and TTO microspheres were characterized by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), optical microscopy, and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). In doing so, the structural effect of P(St-BMA) microspheres on oil absorption and sustained release properties could be investigated. The results show that the surface of the P(St-BMA) microspheres in the process of TTO microsphere formation changed from initially concave to convex. The TTO microspheres significantly improved the stability of TTO, which was found to completely decompose as the temperature of the TTO increased from about 110 °C to 150 °C. The oil absorption behavior, which was up to 3.85 g/g, could be controlled by adjusting the monomer ratio and the amount of crosslinking agent. Based on Fickian diffusion, the sustained release behavior of TTO microspheres was consistent with the Korsmeyer-Pappas kinetic model. After 13 h of natural release, the anti-bacterial effect of the TTO microspheres was found to be significantly improved compared to TTO.
Highlights
In recent years, consumers have paid increasing attention to food safety, as the quality of ingested food is generally directly related to human health
The results described above outline why the microspheres were able lipophilic group of the P(St-butyl methacrylate (BMA)) microspheres and the Tea tree oil (TTO) [24]
Luria Bertani (LB) agar plates (90 mm) were prepared [37,38]. 100 μL of the bacterial solution was add to the plate, coated evenly with a spreader and hit a 6.0 mm hole by punch. 50 μL, 40 μL, 30 μL, and 20 μL of TTO and the corresponding oil dosage of the TTO microspheres were added to the hole, respectively, and cultured at 37 ◦ C for 24 h
Summary
Consumers have paid increasing attention to food safety, as the quality of ingested food is generally directly related to human health. TTO as the active anti-bacterial agent can inhibit the growth of E. coli to prolong the shelf-life of beef. After coating, the sustained release time of TTO was prolonged significantly at different temperatures (4 ◦ C, 12 ◦ C, 25 ◦ C, and 35 ◦ C) This may have greatly improved the anti-bacterial effect and application value of TTO. Chen et al [20] have used sodium alginate (SA) and a quaternary ammonium salt of chitosan (HACC) for the synthesis of TTO-loaded anti-bacterial microcapsules by complex coacervation These microcapsules were demonstrated to improve the thermal stability and prolong the sustained release time of TTO, resulting in a sustained anti-bacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and E. coli. The obtained results showed that the TTO microspheres offer great potential in the field of anti-bacterial agents
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