Effect of Bentonite on the Structure and Performance of Sodium Alginate as Microsphere Carrier of Essential Oil

The effect of bentonite (BT) on the structure and performance of sodium alginate (SA) as microsphere carrier of essential oil is studied. The addition of BT can improve the performance of alginate gel microspheres through the study of the properties of single carrier SA and composite carrier SA/BT. The experimental results show that the viscosity of composite carrier SA/BT solution is higher than that of carrier SA solution, and the increasing rate of viscosity of composite solution with temperature is less than that of SA. The addition of BT can effectively inhibit the swelling of SA microspheres. The hydrogen bonding between SA and BT is shown in FTIR, and the interlayer spacing of BT crystal structure is not changed in XRD analysis. The mass loss rate of SA/BT microspheres is lower than that of SA in TGA analysis. The more dense structure of SA/BT microspheres than that of SA microspheres is confirmed by SEM. The release rate of cinnamon oil in SA/BT gel microspheres is significantly lower than that in SA gel microspheres under different temperature conditions. The addition of BT could better control the volatilization of essential oil encapsulated in SA gel microspheres.

Effect of the edible coating containing cinnamon oil nanoemulsion on storage life and quality of tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum Mill) fruits

Tomato is one of the fruit vegetables that had perishable properties so that it needs good postharvest handling to increase their shelf life. One of among other technologies, surface coating of tomatoes with edible ingredients added with natural antimicrobials is potential to be applied. Currently, nanotechnology represents an important area and an efficient option for extending the shelf life of foods. The research aimed to investigate the effect of edible coating, containing cinnamon oil nanoemulsion, to extend the storage life and quality of tomato fruits. Treatments given were (a) dipping time in the edible coating formula (1 and 3 minutes), and the storage period of tomatoes, namely 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 days at room temperature (27°C). As a control treatment, the inspection was also applied on non-coated tomatoes. The results showed that coating treatment was significantly able to delay changes in the quality attributes of tomatoes and longer shelf life compared to fruit that was not coated with an edible coating. Tomato edible coating has better in maintaining physicochemical characteristics (weight loss of 1.83%, TSS 0.34 Brix, vitamin C 59.8 mg/100g and total plate count of 7.88 × 106 CFU/g) than control throughout the storage period. The study concludes that cinnamon oil nanoemulsion coating could be a good alternative to preserve the quality and extend the storage life of tomatoes.

Cinnamon and Eucalyptus Oils Suppress the Inflammation Induced by Lipopolysaccharide In Vivo

Inflammation caused by bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) disrupts epithelial homeostasis and threatens both human and animal health. Therefore, the discovery and development of new anti-inflammatory drugs is urgently required. Plant-derived essential oils (EOs) have good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Thus, this study aims to screen and evaluate the effects of cinnamon oil and eucalyptus oil on anti-inflammatory activities. The associated evaluation indicators include body weight gain, visceral edema coefficient, superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), malondialdehyde (MDA), nitrogen monoxide (NO), interleukin-6 (IL-6), interleukin-10 (IL-10), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), Urea, Crea, ALT, TLR4, MyD88, NF-κB, IκB-α, iNOS, and Mn-SOD. In addition, tissue injury was determined by H&E staining. The results revealed that cinnamon oil and eucalyptus oil suppressed inflammation by decreasing SOD, TNF-α, and NF-κB levels. We also found that cinnamon oil increased the level of GSH-Px, MDA, and Mn-SOD, as well as the visceral edema coefficient of the kidney and liver. Altogether, these findings illustrated that cinnamon oil and eucalyptus oil exhibited wide antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities against LPS-induced inflammation.

Alternative and Complementary Therapies against Foodborne Salmonella Infections

The limitations in the therapeutic options for foodborne pathogens lead to treatments failure, especially for multidrug-resistant (MDR) Salmonella sp., worldwide. Therefore, we aimed to find alternative and complementary therapies against these resistant foodborne pathogens. Out of 100 meat products samples, the prevalence rate of salmonella was 6%, serotyped only as S. Typhimurium and S. Enteritidis. According to the antibiotic susceptibility assays, the majority of our isolates were MDR and susceptible to cefotaxime. Out of the 13 tested plant extracts, five only showed an inhibition zone in the range of 8–50 mm against both serotypes. Based on their promising activity, the oily extract of cinnamon and aqueous extract of paprika represented the highest potency. Surprisingly, a significant synergistic effect was detected between cinnamon oil and cefotaxime. Depending on Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS), the antimicrobial activity of cinnamon oil was attributed to four components including linalool, camphor, (Z)-3-Phenylacrylaldehyde and its stereoisomer 2-Propenal-3-phenyl. The anti-virulence activities of these compounds were confirmed on the basis of computational molecular docking studies. Accordingly, we recommended the use of cinnamon oil as a food additive to fight the resistant foodborne pathogens. Additionally, we confirmed its therapeutic uses, especially when co-administrated with other antimicrobial agents.

Effect of acetic and citric acid solvent combination with cinnamon oil on quality of edible packaging from chitosan

Chitosan is one of the fishery by-products, which is extracted from shrimp and crab carapace. Chitosan can be processed into edible packaging. The nature of chitosan edible packaging is depended on the type of solvent used while extraction. Acetic acid produces a strong coating with good barrier properties but less elastic, while citric acid produces an elastic layer but has relatively low barrier properties and weak coating. Cinnamon essential oil can inhibit bacterial growth. This study aimed to obtain the best proportion combination of acetic and citric acid solvents which can improve mechanical properties and permeability of the edible packaging, also determine the effect of cinnamon essential oil in inhibiting Salmonella and S. aureus bacteria. The experimental design used a completely randomized design (CRD), with solvent combination treatment in preliminary research initially followed by chitosan and cinnamon essential oil addition in the subsequent research. Data showed that the best edible packaging properties were obtained from a combination of acetic and citric acid (2:2) with 30.67 MPa tensile strength, 65.35% elongation, 0.0422 mm thickness, and moisture permeability 3.02x10−10 g.m.m−2.s−1.pa−1. The concentration of 1.5 g of chitosan with 1.5% cinnamon essential oil can produce an antibacterial with 10.15 mm inhibition zone diameter in Salmonella sp. and 9.53 mm in Staphylococcus aureus

Neuroprotective potentials of selected natural edible oils using enzyme inhibitory, kinetic and simulation approaches

Background Edible oils have proven health benefits in the prevention and treatment of various disorders since the establishment of human era. This study was aimed to appraise neuropharmacological studies on the commonly used edible oils including Cinnamomum verum (CV), Zingiber officinale (ZO) and Cuminum cyminum (CC). Methods The oils were analyzed via GC-MS for identifications of bioactive compounds. Anti-radicals capacity of the oils were evaluated via 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radicals scavenging assays. The samples were also tested against two important acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) which are among the important drug targets in Alzheimer’s disease. Lineweaver-Burk plots were constructed for enzyme inhibition studies which correspond to velocity of enzymes (Vmax) against the reciprocal of substrate concentration (Km) in the presence of test samples and control drugs following Michaelis-Menten kinetics. Docking studies on AChE target were also carried out using Molecular Operating Environment (MOE 2016.0802) software. Results (Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry GC-MS) analysis revealed the presence of thirty-four compounds in Cinnamon oil (Cv.Eo), fourteen in ginger oil (Zo.Eo) and fifty-six in cumin oil (Cc.Eo). In the antioxidant assays, Cv.Eo, Zo.Eo and Cc.Eo exhibited IC50 values of 85, 121, 280 μg/ml sequentially against DPPH radicals. Whereas, in ABTS assay, Cv.Eo, Zo.Eo and Cc.Eo showed considerable anti-radicals potentials with IC50 values of 93, 77 and 271 μg/ml respectively. Furthermore, Cv.Eo was highly active against AChE enzyme with IC50 of 21 μg/ml. Zo.Eo and Cc.Eo exhibited considerable inhibitory activities against AChE with IC50 values of 88 and 198 μg/ml respectively. In BChE assay, Cv.Eo, Zo.Eo and Cc.Eo exhibited IC50 values of 106, 101 and 37 μg/ml respectively. Our results revealed that these oils possess considerable antioxidant and cholinesterase inhibitory potentials. As functional foods these oils can be effective remedy for the prevention and management of neurological disorders including AD. Synergistic effect of all the identified compounds was determined via binding energy values computed through docking simulations. Binding orientations showed that all the compounds interact with amino acid residues present in the peripheral anionic site (PAS) and catalytic anionic site (CAS) amino acid residues, oxyanion hole and acyl pocket via π-π stacking interactions and hydrogen bond interactions.