Functionalized nanoencapsulated Curcuma longa essential oil in chitosan nanopolymer and their application for antioxidant and antimicrobial efficacy

Murugesan Sindhu; Vallavan Rajkumar; Coimbatore Alagubrahmam Annapoorani; Chinnappan Gunasekaran; Malaichamy Kannan

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126387

Functionalized nanoencapsulated Curcuma longa essential oil in chitosan nanopolymer and their application for antioxidant and antimicrobial efficacy

Int J Biol Macromol. 2023 Aug 16:251:126387. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126387. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Murugesan Sindhu¹, Vallavan Rajkumar², Coimbatore Alagubrahmam Annapoorani³, Chinnappan Gunasekaran², Malaichamy Kannan⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Zoology, School of Biosciences, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.
² Conservation Biology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, School of Life Sciences, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore 641046, Tamil Nadu, India.
³ Department of Zoology, School of Biosciences, Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.. Electronic address: annapoorani_zoo@avinuty.ac.in.
⁴ Centre for Agricultural nanotechnology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India.

PMID: 37595727
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2023.126387

Abstract

The present study reports on the encapsulation of Curcuma longa (L.) essential oil (CLEO) in chitosan nanopolymer as a novel nanotechnology preservative for enhancing its antibacterial, antifungal, and mycotoxin inhibitory efficacy. GC-MS analysis of CLEO showed the presence of α-turmerone (42.6 %) and β- turmerone (14.0 %) as the major components. CLEO-CSNPs were prepared through the ionic-gelation technique and confirmed by TEM micrograph, DLS, XRD, and FTIR. In vitro, bactericidal activity of CLEO-CSNPs at a concentration of 100 μg/mL showed significant antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which mostly rely on ROS production and depend on its penetration and interaction with bacterial cells. Furthermore, the CLEO-CSNPs during in vitro investigation against F. graminearum completely inhibited the growth and zearalenone and deoxynivalenol production at 0.75 μL/mL, respectively. Further, CLEO-CSNPs enhanced antioxidant activity against DPPH^• and ABTS^•+ with IC₅₀ values 0.95 and 0.66 μL/mL, respectively, and without any negative impacts on germinating seeds were observed during the phytotoxicity investigation. Overall, experiments concluded that encapsulated CLEO enhances antimicrobial inhibitory efficiency against stored foodborne pathogens.

Keywords: Antibacterial; Antifungal; Antimycotoxin; Curcuma longa essential oil; Nanoencapsulation.