FORMULATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF ULTRASOUND-ASSISTED NANOEMULSIONS CONTAINING PALM OIL (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) IN WATER

Fabrication and Optimization of Essential-Oil-Loaded Nanoemulsion Using Box-Behnken Design against Staphylococos aureus and Staphylococos epidermidis Isolated from Oral Cavity

Oral bacterial infections are fairly common in patients with diabetes mellitus; however, due to limited treatment options, herbal medicines are considered an alternate solution. This study aimed to formulate a stable essential-oil-loaded nanoemulsion for the treatment of oral bacterial infections. Essential oils from edible sources including coriander, clove, cinnamon and cardamom were extracted by hydrodistillation. The response surface methodology was used to optimize the nanoemulsion formulation by applying the Box–Behnken design. The oil concentration, surfactant concentration and stirring speed were three independent factors, and particle size and polydispersity index were two responses. The particle size, polydispersity index and zeta potential of the optimized formulation were 130 mm, 0.222 and −22.9, respectively. The ATR-FTIR analysis revealed that there was no incompatibility between the active ingredients and the excipients. A significant release profile in active ingredients of nanoemulsion, i.e., 88.75% of the cinnamaldehyde and 89.33% of eugenol, was recorded after 24 h. In the ex vivo goat mucosal permeation study, 71.67% of the cinnamaldehyde permeated and that of the eugenol 70.75% from the nanoemulsion. The optimized formulation of the essential-oil-loaded nanoemulsion showed a 9 mm zone of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, whereas in anti-quorum sensing analysis, the optimized nanoemulsion formulation showed an 18 mm zone of inhibition. It was concluded that formulated essential-oil-loaded nanoemulsion can be used against S. epidermidis and S. aureus infections in oral cavity.

Hydrolysis of macauba kernel oil: ultrasound application in the substrates pre-emulsion step and effect of the process variables

The main goal of the present work was to evaluate the application of ultrasound as a previous step to promote the substrates pre-emulsion in the hydrolysis reaction of macauba kernel oil (MKO). The ultrasound effect on the substrates pre-emulsion was evaluated on the free fatty acid (FFA) content, as well as the process variables (reaction time, percentage of catalyst Lipozyme® RM IM, and buffer solution). Reactions carried out with the substrates pre-emulsion presented higher FFA production, up to a 40 wt% increase in 1 hour of reaction, yielding 80 wt% of FFAs in 8 hours. The use of catalyst in the reaction medium, from 5 to 15 wt%, favored the FFAs production in 2 hours of reaction. Addition of 25 to 100 wt% of buffer solution led to 86 wt% of FFAs in 4 hours of reaction. Enzyme recycling resulted in a slight decrease in the FFA content, although the catalyst had maintained 85% of its initial activity after 30 h of use. Therefore, the ultrasound pre-emulsion previous step allowed a more efficient hydrolysis reaction of MKO, leading to an increase of up to 40 wt% on the FFA content, when compared to the hydrolysis without such step.