Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Modeling the release of antimicrobial agents (thymol and carvacrol) from two different encapsulation materials

  • Published:
Food Science and Biotechnology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The release of microencapsulated natural antimicrobial (AM) agents (thymol and carvacrol) from two encapsulating matrixes [maltodextrin (MD) and soy protein (SP)] were evaluated for possible use in food packaging coatings. Microcapsules were prepared by oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions at different concentrations (10, 20% for MD and 2, 5% for SP). High encapsulation efficiency ranged from 96 to 99.95% for MD and 93.1 to 100% for SP, with average microcapsule diameters that ranged from 17 to 27.5 and 18.8 to 38 µm, respectively. The release rate with 20% MD-thymol [20MD-T] was faster than with 10% MD-thymol [10MD-T]. Similar results were obtained for carvacrol with the same concentration of MD. Korsmeyer–Peppas and Weibull mathematical models were successfully fitted to the release of the AM agents, describing the Fickian diffusion release of the components. Different release rates were obtained as a function of the chemical nature of the encapsulation material and its concentration.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Rubilar JF, Cruz RMS, Silva HD, Vicente AA, Khmelinskii I, Vieira MC. Physico-mechanical properties of chitosan films with carvacrol and grape seed extract. J Food Eng. 115: 466-474 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Brody AL, Strupinsky ER, Kline LR. 1st ed. Active packaging for food applications. CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, FL, USA (2001).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  3. Cerisuelo JP, Muriel-Galet V, Bermúdez JM, Aucejo S, Catalá R, Gavara R, Hernández-Muñoz P. Mathematical model to describe the release of an antimicrobial agent from an active package constituted by carvacrol in a hydrophilic EVOH coating on a PP film. J. Food Eng. 110: 26–37 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Almenar E, Catalá R, Hernández P, Gavara R. Optimization of an active package for wild strawberry based on the release of 2-nonanone. Food Sci. Tech. 42: 587–593 (2008).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Imran M, Revol-Junelles AM, Martyn A, Tehrany A, Jacquot M, Linder M, Desorby S. Active food packaging evolution: transformation from micro- to nanotechnology. Cri. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. 50: 799–821 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Ramos M, Jimenez A, Peltzer M, Garrigós MC. Characterization and antimicrobial activity studies of polypropylene films with carvacrol and thymol for active packaging. J. Food Eng. 109: 513–519 (2012).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Gutierrez J, Barry-Ryan C, Bourke P. Antimicrobial activity of plant essential oils using food model media: efficacy, synergistic potential and interactions with food components. Food Microbiol. 26: 142–150 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Rubilar JF, Cruz RMS, Khmelinskii I, Vieira MC. Effect of antioxidant and optimal antimicrobial mixtures of carvacrol, grape seed extract and chitosan on different spoilage microorganisms and their application as coating on different food matrices. Int. J Food Studies 2: 22–38 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Daferera DJ, Ziogas BN, Polissiou MC. The effectiveness of plant essential oils on the growth of Botrytis cinerea, Fusarium sp. and Clavibacter michiganensis subs. Michiganensis. Crop Prot. 22: 39–44 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Cao-Hoang L, Grégorie L, Chaine A, Wache Y. Importance and efficiency of in-depth antimicrobial activity for the control of listeria development with nisin-incorporated sodium caseinate films. Food Control, 21, 1227–1233 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  11. Guarda A, Rubilar J, Miltz J, Galotto MJ. The antimicrobial activity of microencapsulated thymol and carvacrol. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 146: 144–150 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Ramos M, Beltrán A, Peltzer M, Valente AJM, Garrigós MC. Release and antioxidant activity of carvacrol and thymol from polypropylene active packaging films. LWT-Food Sci. Technol. 58: 470–477 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Sivropoulou A, Papanikolaou E, Nikolaou C, Kokkini S, Lanaras T, Arsenakis M. Antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities of Origanum essential oils. J Agric. Food Chem. 44: 1202–1205 (1996).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Mohammadi A, Jafari SM, Assadpour E, Esfanjani AF. Nano-encapsulation of olive leaf phenolic compounds through WPC-pectin complexes and evaluation their release rate. Int. J Biol Macromolec. 82: 816–822 (2016).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. King AH. Encapsulation of food ingredients. pp. 26–39. In: Encapsulation and controlled release of food ingredients. Risch S and Reineccius GE. (eds.). Symposium series 590, American Chemical Society, Washington DC, (1995).

  16. Campos CA, Gerschenson LN, Flores SK. Development of edible films and coatings with antimicrobial activity. Food Bioprocess Tech. 4 (6): 849–875 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Barbosa-Pereira L, Aurrekoetxea GP, Angulo I, Paseiro-Losada P, Cruz JM. Development of new active packaging films coated with natural phenolic compounds to improve the oxidative stability of beef. Meat Sci. 97:249–254 (2014).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Šegvić-Klarić M, Kosalec I, Mastelić J, Piecková E, Pepeljnak S. Antifungal activity of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) essential oil and thymol against moulds from damp dwellings. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 44: 36–42 (2006).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Yang J, Xiao J, Ding L. An investigation into the application of konjac glucomannan as a flavour encapsulant. Eur. Food Res. Technol. 229: 467–474 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Buranasuksombat U, Kwon YJK, Turner M, Bhandari B. Influence of emulsion droplet size on atimicrobial properties. Food Sci. Biotechnol. 20(3): 793–800 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Maji TK, Hussain MR. Microencapsulation of Zanthoxylum limonella oil (z/o) in genipin crosslinked chitosan-gelatin complex for mosquito repellent application. J Appl. Polymer Sci. 11: 779–785 (2009).

    Google Scholar 

  22. Jun-Xia X, Hai-yan Y, Jian Y. Microencapsulation of sweet orange oil by complex coacervation with soybean protein isolate/gum Arabic. Food Chem. 125: 1267–1272 (2011).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Dokic-Baucal L, Dokic P, Jakovljevic J. Influence of different maltodextrins on properties of O/W emulsions. Food Hydrocolloid. 18: 233–239 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Pérez-Pérez C, Regalado-González C, Rodríguez-Rodríguez CA, Barbosa-Rodriguez JR, Villaseñor-Ortega F. Incorporation of antimicrobial agents in food packaging films and coatings. In: Advances in Agricultural and Food Biotechnology. Guevara-González RG. And Torres-Pacheco I. (eds). Research Signpost. Kerala, India (2006).

  25. Gharsallaoui A, Roudaut G, Chambin O, Voilley A, Saurel R. Applications of spray-drying in microencapsulation of food ingredients: An overview. Food Res. Int. 40: 1107–1121 (2007).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  26. Del Nobile MA, Conte A, Incoronato AL, Panza O. Antimicrobial efficacy and release kinetics of thymol from zein films. J Food Eng. 89: 57–63 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Korsmeyer RW, Gurny R, Doelker E, Buri P, Peppas NA. Mechanisms of solute release from porous hydrophilic polymers. Int. J Pharm. 15: 25–35 (1983).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Dash S, Murthy PN, Nath L, Chowdhury P. Kinetic modelling on drug release from controlled drug delivery systems. Acta Pol. Pharm– Drug Research, 67 (3): 217–223 (2010).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Boriwanwattanarak P, Ingkaninan K, Khorana N, Viyoch J. Development of curcuminoids hydrogel patch using chitosan from various sources as controlled-release matrix. Int. J. Cosmet. Sci. 30: 205–218 (2008).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Estevinho BN, Rocha F, Santos L, Alves A. Microencapsulation with chitosan by spray drying for industry applications – a review. Trends Food Sci. Tech. 31 (2): 138–155 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Jose S, Fangueiro JF, Smitha J, Cinu TA, Chacko AJ, Premaletha K, Souto EB. Predictive modeling of insuline release profile from cross-linked chitosan microspheres. Eur. J Med. Chem. 60: 249–253 (2013).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Van Boekel MA. On the use of the Weibull model to describe thermal inactivation of microbial vegetative cells. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 74, 139–159 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Ayala-Zavala F, Gonzalez-Aguilar G. Optimizing the use of garlic oil as antimicrobial agent in fresh-cut tomato through a controlled release system. J. Food Sci. 75 (7): M398-M405 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Cosentino S, Tuberoso CI, Pisano B, Satta M, Mascia V, Arzedi E, Palmas F. In vitro antimicrobial activity and chemical composition of Sardinian Thymus essential oils. Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 29: 130–135 (1999).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Delgado B, Fernández P, Palop A, Periago P. Effect of thymol and cymene on Bacillus cereus vegetative cells evaluated through the use of frequency distributions. Food Microbiol. 21: 327–334 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Programa de Financiamiento Basal para Centros Científicos y Tecnológicos de Excelencia (Project CEDENNA FB0807). Rubilar gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Fondecyt-Postdoctoral #3140349 Project and the INNOVA CORFO Project 13IDL1-18281 and DIPEI of the PUC.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Escuela de Alimentos, Avenida Waddington 716, 2360100, Valparaiso, Chile

    Pablo A. Ulloa

  2. Food Packaging Laboratory (LABEN-Chile), Food Science and Technology Department, Center for the Development of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CEDENNA), Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Obispo Manuel Umaña 050, Santiago, Chile

    Abel Guarda, Ximena Valenzuela & María J. Galotto

  3. Departament of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Avenida Vicuña Mackenna 4860, Macul, Santiago, Chile

    Javiera F. Rubilar

Authors
  1. Pablo A. Ulloa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Abel Guarda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ximena Valenzuela
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Javiera F. Rubilar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. María J. Galotto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pablo A. Ulloa.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ulloa, P.A., Guarda, A., Valenzuela, X. et al. Modeling the release of antimicrobial agents (thymol and carvacrol) from two different encapsulation materials. Food Sci Biotechnol 26, 1763–1772 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-017-0226-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10068-017-0226-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation