Encapsulation of Camphor in Nanocellulose based Pickering Emulsion and Study of its Antibacterial Activity

• Published in: International journal for research in applied science and engineering technology 2023-10, Vol.11 (10), p.1851-1859
• Main Authors: Dudhani, Sakshi, Mavlankar, Guruprasad R., Rangadal, Deepa N., Bhatu, Minakshi N., Patil, Shubhangi P.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2321-9653; 2321-9653
• DOI: 10.22214/ijraset.2023.56335

Camphor is a natural and renewable antimicrobial agent. However, it is highly sublime, which limits its practical application as an effective antibacterial agent. To improve camphor's stability and retention properties, we have microencapsulated camphor into an almond essential oil-based Pickering emulsion (AO-PE), stabilized by cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). The CNC was synthesized from corn husk using an eco-friendly homogenization approach to stabilize the AO-PE. Various factors affecting the formation and stability of Pickering emulsions (PE) were studied, such as the source of cellulose (corn husk and mung hull), oil type (sesame oil and almond oil), oil in water concentration, and stability with time and shear. Camphor-loaded CNC-stabilized AO-PE exhibited a small droplet size and had long-term stability at 6.67% by volume oil concentration, owing to the presence of 0.2 g of CNC at droplet interfaces. The results showed that the PE exhibited better antibacterial performance against Staphylococcus aureus than the equivalent concentrations of camphor, almond oil, CNC, and camphor dissolved in almond oil, individually. This research shall provide fresh insights into the significant enhancement of the antimicrobial properties of medicinal natural products by incorporating them into PEs. Graphical abstract