Application of the polycaprolactone polymer for the encapsulation of geraniol: evaluation of the efficiency and stability
Abstract Geraniol has been an attractive compound for food preservation due to its antibacterial and antifungal actions. The main objective of this study was to produce and characterize polycaprolactone (PCL) capsules for the protection of the encapsulated geraniol essential oil. The encapsulation was carried out using a miniemulsion polymerization technique with an efficiency of (95.44 ± 0.60%). The capsules were obtained with a mean size of 148 nm and with a polydispersity index of 0.12. Transmission electron microscopy results confirmed the formation of spherical capsules of PCL coating the geraniol. From the analysis of thermogravimetry, it was possible to prove the thermal protection of geraniol by PCL coating since the release of the encapsulated geraniol occurred with temperatures 100 °C higher than the volatilization temperature of the natural compound. An important observation was that the microcapsules of PCL-geraniol immersed in aqueous suspensions at 4 °C showed good stability over 60 days.