Fabrication, Characterization, and Antimicrobial Activity of Carvacrol-Loaded Zein Nanoparticles Using the pH-Driven Method

Abstract

To reduce the application of synthetic additives in the field of food preservation, this study utilized carvacrol as an antibacterial agent, and zein and sodium caseinate as carriers, to prepare composite nanoparticles loaded with carvacrol by the pH-driven method. The composite nanoparticles of zein/sodium caseinate had an excellent encapsulation efficiency (77.96~82.19%) for carvacrol, and it had remarkable redispersibility. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy showed that the formation of the composite nanoparticles mainly depended on the hydrogen bond and the hydrophobic zone force, and thermal gravimetric analysis showed that carvacrol was loaded successfully into nanoparticles, and loading efficiency reached 24.9%. Scanning electron microscopy showed that the composite nanoparticles were spherical, with a particle size range of 50~200 nm, and through the free radical scavenging method and the plate counting method to confirm the particle has stronger antioxidant and antibacterial properties, and with the composite nanoparticles with poly (vinyl alcohol) film applied to the preservation of banana together, it was found that PVA film containing 5 wt% CA-loaded composite NPs can significantly extend the storage period of banana. Therefore, when the composite nanoparticles were applied to food packaging, they could effectively inhibit food spoilage and lengthen the shelf life of food, which displays potential application prospects in the food industry.

Zein Nanoparticles Containing Arginine-Phenylalanine-Based Surfactants: Stability, Antimicrobial and Hemolytic Activity

“…It was found that this system attacked only the pathogen of interest. Zheng et al [ 36 ] prepared carvacrol-loaded-zein nanoparticles with sodium caseinate and Bidyarany et al [ 37 ] developed carvacrol-loaded-zein nanoparticles with rhamnolipids. In both cases the antimicrobial and antifungal activity of the loaded nanoparticles was higher than that of free carvacrol.…”

Co‐encapsulation of curcumin and anthocyanins in bovine serum album–fucoidan nanocomplex with a two‐step pH‐driven method

“…Several works have used the pH‐driven method to produce protein‐ and liposome‐based nanoparticles to encapsulate CUR, quercetin, resveratrol, naringenin, naringin and carvacrol 35,37‐39 . Although the pH‐driven method is green and simple enough to encapsulate phenolic compounds by changing pH values, some phenolic compounds may not be amenable to this method 40 .…”

“…Several works have used the pH-driven method to produce protein-and liposome-based nanoparticles to encapsulate CUR, quercetin, resveratrol, naringenin, naringin and carvacrol. 35,[37][38][39] Although the pH-driven method is green and simple enough to encapsulate phenolic compounds by changing pH values, some phenolic compounds may not be amenable to this method. 40 These compounds may be chemically unstable and insoluble under alkaline conditions; for example, pH > 9.2 resulted in significant ACN loss, and pH 8.0 caused 30% monomeric ACN degradation.…”

Zein-based nanoparticles: Preparation, characterization, and pharmaceutical application

“…The pH-driven method has been widely used to prepare zein composite nanoparticles. For example, carvacrol-loaded zein/sodium caseinate composite nanoparticles were fabricated ( Zheng et al, 2022 ): the obtained particles were spherical, the particle size was around 50–200 nm, and the EE was 77.96%–82.19%. Similarly, pH-driven zein/tea saponin composite nanoparticles were developed for encapsulation and oral delivery of curcumin ( Yuan et al, 2021 ): the obtained particles were spherical, the particle size was around 100–250 nm, EE and DL were 83.73% and 22.33% respectively.…”