Evaluation of Antimicrobial and Structural Properties of Thyme Essential Oil-Loaded Chitosan-Capric Acid and Chitosan-Stearic Acid Nanogels

This study aimed to investigate the physicochemical properties, antimicrobial activity, and cytotoxicity of Thyme Essential Oil (TEO) encapsulated by chitosan nanogels.

In this study, chitosan-stearic acid and chitosan-capric acid nanogels were developed in two ratios of chitosan to fatty acid (10: 1 and 10: 3).

The results of Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis showed a successful binding of chitosan to capric and stearic acids. Scanning Electron Microscope images revealed that particle formation improved with increase of the ratio of fatty acid to chitosan. The antimicrobial capacity of both encapsulation systems on three species of microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans) was studied. A sustained release of curcumin was observed in Simulated Intestine Fluid. The developed nanogels did not have any toxicity on different cell lines. The results also showed that the antimicrobial capacity of TEO encapsulated with chitosan nanogels was higher (p<0.05) than the ionic method (use of sodium triphosphate incorporating chitosan).

The results have shown that encapsulating TEO in chitosan nanogels is a suitable alternative for synthetic antibiotics in different products.