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Functional Characterisation and Antimicrobial Efficiency Assessment of Smart Nanohydrogels Containing Natamycin Incorporated into Polysaccharide-Based Films

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Abstract

The potential application of polysaccharide-based films containing smart nanohydrogels for the controlled release of food preservatives is demonstrated here. Smart active packaging is the most promising alternative to traditional packaging as it provides a controlled antimicrobial effect, which allows reducing the amount of preservatives in the food bulk, releasing them only on demand. This work evaluates the usefulness of smart thermosensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPA) nanohydrogels with or without acrylic acid (AA) incorporated into polysaccharide-based films (GA) to transport natamycin and release it as a response to environmental triggers. Release kinetics in liquid medium from GA films containing PNIPA/AA nanohydrogels (GA-PNIPA(5) and GA-PNIPA-20AA(5)) presented a characteristic feature regarding the films without nanohydrogels that was the appearance of a lag time in natamycin release, able to reach values of around 35 h. Another important feature of natamycin release kinetics was the fact that the release from GA-PNIPA/AA films only occurred when temperature was increased, so that the natamycin release was restricted to when there is a risk of growth of microorganisms that cause food spoilage or the development of pathogenic microorganisms. Additionally, it could be observed that the relative fraction of natamycin released from GA-PNIPA/AA films was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that released from GA films loaded with the same amount of free natamycin. It can be hypothesised that the encapsulation of natamycin into nanohydrogels helped it to be released from GA films, creating reservoirs of natamycin into the films and, therefore, facilitating its diffusion through the film matrix when the nanohydrogel collapses. In a solid medium, the low water availability limited natamycin release from GA-PNIPA/AA films restricting the on/off release mechanism of PNIPA/AA nanohydrogels and favouring the hydrophobic interactions between natamycin and polymer chains at high temperatures. Despite the low natamycin release in solid media, antimicrobial efficiency of GA-PNIPA(5) films containing natamycin in acidified agar plates was higher than that obtained with GA films without natamycin and GA films with free natamycin, probably due to the protecting effect against degradation when natamycin was included in the nanohydrogels, allowing its release only when the temperature increased.

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Abbreviations

AA:

Acrylic acid

AP:

Aqueous phase

AtlasTM G-1086:

PEG-40 sorbitol hexaoleate

DL:

Detection limit

F t :

Fraction of natamycin released from films towards agar plates

GA-NA:

GA films containing free natamycin

GA-PNIPA-20AA(5):

Polysaccharide-based films containing PNIPA-20AA(5) nanohydrogel

GA-PNIPA-20AA(5)+NA(8):

GA films containing PNIPA-20AA(5) nanohydrogels loaded with 7.92 μg of natamycin

GA-PNIPA(5):

Polysaccharide-based films containing PNIPA(5) nanohydrogel

GA-PNIPA(5)+NA(8):

GA films containing PNIPA(5) nanohydrogels loaded with 7.92 μg of natamycin

GA-PNIPA/AA:

Polysaccharide-based films containing poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanohydrogel with or without copolymerised acrylic acid

GA:

Polysaccharide-based films

GA + NA(564):

GA films containing 564.24 μg of free natamycin

GA + NA(8):

GA films containing 7.92 μg of free natamycin

IsoparTM M:

Isoparaffinic synthetic hydrocarbon

LCST:

Lower critical solution temperature

MIC:

Minimum inhibitory concentrations

n :

The diffusional exponent that depends on both the geometry of the delivery system and the physical mechanisms involved

NIPA:

N-isopropylacrylamide

NMBA:

N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide

OP:

Oil phase

P 1.01:

Penicillium commune

PDA:

Potato dextrose agar

PNIPA-20AA(5):

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanohydrogel copolymerised with 20 % (w/w) of acrylic acid using 5 % (w/w) of crosslinking

PNIPA:

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)

PNIPA(5):

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanohydrogel with 5 % (w/w) of crosslinking

PNIPA/AA:

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanohydrogel with or without copolymerised acrylic acid

RP-HPLC:

Reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography

Sc 1.02:

Saccharomyces cerevisiae

SpanTM 83:

Sorbitan sesquiolate

ST:

Surfactant

v max :

Maximum release rate (h−1)

γF max :

Maximum relative fraction of natamycin released from films

γF t :

Relative fraction of natamycin released from films

λ :

The lag time for the natamycin release, expressed in hours (h)

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Acknowledgments

Clara Fuciños and Miguel A. Cerqueira are recipients of a fellowship (SFRH/BPD/87910/2012 and SFRH/BPD/72753/2010, respectively) from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT, POPH-QREN, and FSE Portugal). The authors thank the FCT Strategic Project PEst-OE/EQB/LA0023/2013 and the project “BioInd - Biotechnology and Bioengineering for improved Industrial and Agro-Food processes”, Ref. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000028 co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 – O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER and the project from the “Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia” (Spain) “Nanohidrogeles inteligentes sensibles a cambios de pH y Temperatura: Diseño, síntesis y aplicación en terapia del cáncer y el envasado activo de alimentos”, Ref. MAT2010-21509-C03-01.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biotechnology Group, Department of Analytical Chemistry and Food Science, University of Vigo, As Lagoas s/n, 32004, Ourense, Spain

    Clara Fuciños, Martín Míguez, María L. Rúa & Lorenzo M. Pastrana

  2. Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga, Portugal

    Clara Fuciños, Miguel A. Cerqueira, Maria J. Costa & António A. Vicente

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  1. Clara Fuciños
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  2. Martín Míguez
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Correspondence to Clara Fuciños.

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Fuciños, C., Míguez, M., Cerqueira, M.A. et al. Functional Characterisation and Antimicrobial Efficiency Assessment of Smart Nanohydrogels Containing Natamycin Incorporated into Polysaccharide-Based Films. Food Bioprocess Technol 8, 1430–1441 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11947-015-1506-z

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