Preparation and Evaluation of Nanoemulsion of Citronella Essential Oil with Improved Antimicrobial and Anti-Cancer Properties

Talha Jawaid; Ali Mohammed Alaseem; Mohammed Moizuddin Khan; Beenish Mukhtar; Mehnaz Kamal; Razique Anwer; Saif Ahmed; Aftab Alam

doi:10.3390/antibiotics12030478

Preparation and Evaluation of Nanoemulsion of Citronella Essential Oil with Improved Antimicrobial and Anti-Cancer Properties

Antibiotics (Basel). 2023 Feb 27;12(3):478. doi: 10.3390/antibiotics12030478.

Authors

Talha Jawaid¹, Ali Mohammed Alaseem¹, Mohammed Moizuddin Khan², Beenish Mukhtar^{2

3}, Mehnaz Kamal⁴, Razique Anwer⁵, Saif Ahmed⁶, Aftab Alam⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacology, College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 13317, Saudi Arabia.
² Department of Basic Medical Science, College of Medicine, Dar Al Uloom University, Riyadh 13314, Saudi Arabia.
³ Department of Physiology, Santosh Deemed to be University, Ghaziabad 201009, India.
⁴ Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 13317, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh 13317, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia.

Abstract

The development of new pharmaceutical solutions for treating various diseases results from a growing understanding of the benefits of using essential oils. One of the most often used volatile materials among essential oils is the oil of the citronella plant, termed citronella essential oil (CITEO), which has potential for use in food and medicine. Its wide use is limited due to lipophilicity, high volatility and poor physicochemical stability. With this background, the present study aims to evaluate the properties of CITEO-nanoemulsion (CITEO-NE) by analyzing its antimicrobial activities against Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Candida albicans (C. albicans) and its anticancer activity against, human skin adenocarcinoma cell line (A431). The CITEO-NE was prepared and evaluated for the size range of 130 ± 5 nm, polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.127 and zeta potential -12.6 mV. The percentage % of entrapment efficiency (%EE) of nanoemulsions loaded with CIT was very high at the beginning of the study, at 95.5 ± 4.775%. The MIC was observed to be 500 µg/mL for CITEO and 250 µg/mL for CITEO-NE against S. aureus and 250 µg/mL for CITEO and 125 µg/mL for CITEO-NE against C. albicans. The time-kill assay also suggests the effectiveness of CITEO-NE against the test pathogens as a novel alternative therapy. The IC₅₀ values of CITEO and CITEO-NE exhibited significant cytotoxic properties against the A431 cell line, with 41.20 μg/mL and 37.71 μg/mL, respectively. Hence, our findings revealed that encapsulation of CITEO increased the pharmacological properties.

Keywords: anti-cancer; antimicrobial; citronella; essential oils; nanoemulsion.

Grants and funding

This study is supported via funding from Prince sattam bin Abdulaziz University project number (PSAU/2023/R/1444). The authors would like to thank Kedar Gupta and Rick Schwerdtfeger for their generous support and encouragement during the preparation this manuscript.