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Formulation and Characterization of Phytophenol-Carrying Antimicrobial Microemulsions

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Abstract

Phytophenols were solubilized in nonionic surfactant micelles to form antimicrobially active and thermodynamically stable microemulsions. Formulation of phytophenols in microemulsions has previously been shown to improve their antimicrobial activity in model microbiological and food systems. Carvacrol and eugenol were incorporated in micellar solutions of two nonionic surfactants (Surfynol® 485W and Surfynol® 465) by mixing at room temperature. Particle size of formed microemulsions was determined by dynamic light scattering, and structural information about the mixed micellar system was obtained by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR). Uptake of carvacrol and eugenol in surfactant micelles as determined by ultrasonic velocity measurements was very rapid, e.g., below the maximum additive concentration, the phytophenols were completely solubilized in the micelles in less than 30 min. Depending on the surfactant–phytophenol combination, the self-assembled surfactant–phytophenol aggregates had mean particle diameters between 3 and 17 nm. Elucidation of the structure of aggregates by 1H NMR studies indicated that micelles had a “bracket-like” structure with phytophenols being located inside the palisade layer of the micelle in direct contact with adjacent surfactant monomers. Encapsulation of phytophenols in surfactant micelles enables the incorporation of large amounts of hydrophobic antimicrobials in aqueous phases. Formulation of antimicrobial microemulsions may thus offer a means to deliver high concentrations of phytophenols to the bacterial surfaces of foodborne pathogens to affect kill.

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Acknowledgment

The authors would like to thank Dr. Nitin Jain at the University of Tennessee for his help with the interpretation on the NMR data. The study was supported by a USDA NRI grant (2004-3521-14120).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts, Chenoweth Laboratory, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA

    Sylvia Gaysinsky, D. Julian McClements & Jochen Weiss

  2. Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Tennessee, 2605 River Drive, Knoxville, TN, 37996-4591, USA

    P. Michael Davidson

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  1. Sylvia Gaysinsky
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Correspondence to Jochen Weiss.

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Gaysinsky, S., Davidson, P.M., McClements, D.J. et al. Formulation and Characterization of Phytophenol-Carrying Antimicrobial Microemulsions. Food Biophysics 3, 54–65 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11483-007-9048-1

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