Antimicrobial Properties of Free and Encapsulated Essential Oil of Rosemary in Chitosan

Abstract

Parisa Bolouri, Pinar Sen and Fikrettin Sahin

Pathogenic microbes are the most common cause of chronic infections, mortality in mammals, and loss of agricultural crops in the world. Antimicrobial agents, including antibiotics and antifungals, are often used in the treatment of infections due to their exceptional consequences, but they face various problems that limit their use. Therefore, herbal sources are attracting more attention due to lower side effects and, in some cases, better and faster effects. Plant essential oils (EOs) have many antimi- crobial and pharmacological effects, but EOs are volatile, heat-sensitive, and water-insoluble compounds that limit their use. Encapsulating EOs can improve the properties of such compounds. Chitosan, a biodegradable nanopolymer, is very important in drug transfer due to its better encapsulation, controlled release, and low toxicity. Therefore, this research was conducted to investigate the encapsulation technique as a suitable method to preserve essential oils and increase their antimicrobial propties. First, the chitosan polymer was used to encapsulate rosemary essential oil after the obtained encapsulated product was charac- terized by the common techniques such as analytical techniques such as FT-IR, SEM, UV/Vis, XRD. Then, the antibacterial effect of encapsulated EO and free EO was investigated by the liquid microdilution method. The results showed that encapsulated EO had a greater antibacterial effect against gram-negative bacteria and fungi compared to free EO.

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