Thyme oil nanoemulsions coemulsified by sodium caseinate and lecithin

Essential oil nanoemulsions as antimicrobial agents in food

The crescent interest in the use of essential oils (EOs) as natural antimicrobials and preservatives in the food industry has been driven in the last years by the growing consumers' demand for natural products with improved microbial safety, and fresh-like organoleptic properties. Nanoemulsions efficiently contribute to support the use of EOs in foods by increasing their dispersibility in the food areas where microorganisms grow and proliferate, by reducing the impact on the quality attributes of the product, as well as by enhancing their antimicrobial activity. Understanding how nanoemulsions intervene on the mass transfer of EOs to the cell membrane and on the mechanism of antimicrobial action will support the engineering of more effective delivery systems and foster the application of EOs in real food systems. This review focuses on the enabling contribution of nanoemulsions to the use of EOs as natural preservative agents in food, (a) specifically addressing the formulation and fabrication of stable EO nanoemulsions, (b) critically analyzing the reported antimicrobial activity data, both in vitro and in product, to infer the impact of the delivery system on the mechanisms of action of EOs, as well as (c) discussing the regulatory issues associated with their use in food systems.

Antimicrobial eugenol nanoemulsion prepared by gum arabic and lecithin and evaluation of drying technologies

The purpose of present work was to develop eugenol oil nanoemulsions using gum arabic and lecithin as food grade natural emulsifiers, and study their antimicrobial activity. In addition, our study also evaluated different drying techniques (spray drying and freeze drying) on the morphology and redispersibility of nanoemulsion powders. The optimal fabrication method, physicochemical and structural characterization, stability, and antimicrobial activity were investigated. Results showed that nanoemusions with a particle size of 103.6±7.5nm were obtained by mixing aqueous phase (0.5% gum arabic, 0.5% lecithin, w/v) and eugenol oil (1.25%, w/v), which was premixed with ethanol (as a co-surfactant), followed by high speed homogenization process. The molecular interactions among emulsifiers and eugenol were evidenced by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Buchi B-90 Nano Spray Dryer was evaluated as a powerful tool to obtain ultrafine spherical powders with a size of less than 500nm, compared to flake-like aggregation obtained by freeze-drying. The dried powders exhibited excellent re-dispersibility in water and maintained their physicochemical properties after re-hydration. The nanoemulsions did not adversely affect the antimicrobial activity of eugenol against Listeria monocytogenes and Salmonella Enteritidis. Therefore, the nanoemulsions have the potential to be applied in the food industry as a food preservative or sanitizer.

Antimicrobial activity of thyme oil co-nanoemulsified with sodium caseinate and lecithin

Emulsions of essential oils are investigated as potential intervention strategies to improve food safety and are preferably prepared from generally-recognized-as-safe emulsifiers. Stable thyme oil nanoemulsions can be prepared using combinations of sodium caseinate (NaCas) and soy lecithin. The objective of the present research was to study the antimicrobial activity of these nanoemulsions and understand the impacts of emulsifier concentrations. 10 g/L thyme oil was emulsified using combinations of (A) 4% w/v NaCas and 0.5% w/v lecithin or (B) 2% w/v NaCas and 0.25% w/v lecithin by high shear homogenization. Combination A resulted in a transparent emulsion with a mean droplet diameter of 82.5 nm, while it was turbid for the Combination B with an average diameter of 125.5 nm. Nanoemulsified thyme oil exhibited quicker initial reductions of bacteria than free thyme oil in tryptic soy broth (TSB) and 2% reduced fat milk at 21 °C, due to the improved dispersibility of thyme oil. In TSB with 0.3 g/L thyme oil, it took less than 4 and 8 h for two nanoemulsions and free oil, respectively, to reduce Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Listeria monocytogenes to be below the detection limit. The emulsified thyme oil also demonstrated more significant reductions of bacteria initially (4 and 8 h) in 2% reduced fat milk than free thyme oil. Especially, with 4 g/L thyme oil, the nanoemulsion prepared with Combination A reduced L. monocytogenes to be below the detection limit after 72 h, while the free thyme oil treatment was only bacteriostatic and the turbid nanoemulsion treatment with Combination B resulted in about 1 log CFU/mL reduction. However, E. coli O157:H7 treated with 3 g/L emulsified thyme oil and Salmonella Enteritidis treated with 4 g/L emulsified thyme oil recovered to a higher extent in milk than free thyme oil treatments. The increased concentration of emulsifiers in Combination A apparently reduced the antimicrobials available to alter bacteria membrane permeability as tested by the crystal violet assay at low antimicrobial concentrations and short time (1 h). The findings suggest that nanoemulsions can be potentially used to incorporate thyme oil for use as antimicrobial preservatives in foods.