Studies on Polymer Based Nanostructures for Controlled Release of Essential Oils Their Characterization and Bioactive Properties

Abstract

newline The present studyentitled, Studies on polymer based nanostructures for controlled release of essential oils, their characterization and bioactive properties was carried out with the objective to determine chemical composition of essential oils and estimate synergistic antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of essential oil combinations of four plants namely;Thymus serphyllum, Lavendula angustifolia, Rosemarinus officianalis and Pelargonium graveolens by GC-MS analysis; evaluation of their antioxidant, antimicrobial activity alone and/or in combination with each other or synthetic antibiotics (chloramphenicol ampicillin, erythromycin and amoxicillin); synthesis of different nanostructures; nano-encapsulation of essential oils in nanostructures and determination of their encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, release kinetics; characterization of nanostructures using SEM, TEM and FTIR; In vitro evaluation of antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of nano-encapsulated essential oils. The major compounds identified in the EOs of Thymus serphyllum, Lavendulaangustifolia, Rosemarinus officinalis,and Pelargonium graveolens were o- cymene, linalyl acetate, camphor and citronellol respectively. Chitosan-nanostructures were also synthesized and encapsulated with test essential oils. Morphological analysis of nanostructures was carried out using SEM/TEM analysis and revealedthe spherical shape of nanogels with 100 nm size, oval shape in the case of nanocapsules with an average size of and#8804; 1µm while spherical to the oval shape for chitosan nanoparticles with an average size of 40.66 nm. Similarly, nanostructures were also characterized by using FTIR, XRD, and DLS analysis.