Development of alginate microspheres containing thyme essential oil using ionic gelation

•This research provides information for the design of alginate microspheres.•It was possible to relate the dispersion degree of the oil, and microsphere capacity.•It was determined that the oil content affected the size and shape of the microsphere.•It was possible to relate the dispersion degree of...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Food chemistry 2016-08, Vol.204, p.77-83
Main Authors: Benavides, Sergio, Cortés, Pablo, Parada, Javier, Franco, Wendy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Alginates - chemistry
Anti-Bacterial Agents - chemistry
Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology
Bacteria - drug effects
Drug Compounding
Emulsions - chemistry
Essential oil
Gels - chemistry
Glucuronic Acid - chemistry
Hexuronic Acids - chemistry
Ionic gelation
Microspheres
Oils, Volatile - chemistry
Oils, Volatile - pharmacology
Thyme
Thymus
Thymus Plant - chemistry
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Summary:•This research provides information for the design of alginate microspheres.•It was possible to relate the dispersion degree of the oil, and microsphere capacity.•It was determined that the oil content affected the size and shape of the microsphere.•It was possible to relate the dispersion degree of oil, and encapsulation efficiency. Essential oils are a good antimicrobial and antioxidant agent alternative in human or animal feed. However, their direct use has several disadvantages such as volatilization or oxidation. The development of essential oil microspheres may help to avoid these problems. The objective of the present research was to microencapsulate thyme essential oil by generating emulsions with different dispersion degrees. The emulsions were encapsulated in calcium-alginate microspheres by ionic gelation. The microspheres were evaluated regarding size, shape, encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity and antimicrobial properties. The results indicate that encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity are dependent on concentration and degree of dispersion. The best encapsulation conditions were obtained at 2% v/v of thyme essential oil with a high dispersion degree (18,000rpm/5min), which was achieved with an efficiency of 85%. Finally, the microspheres obtained showed significant antimicrobial effect, especially in gram-positive bacteria.
ISSN:0308-8146
1873-7072
DOI:10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.02.104