Electrospun nanofibers of poly(vinyl alcohol) and chitosan-based emulsions functionalized with cabreuva essential oil

LAMARRA, J.; CALIENNI, M.N.; RIVERO, S.; PINOTTI, A.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Año: 2020 vol. 160 p. 307 - 318

0141-8130

Among the essential oils (EOs), the cabreuva essential oil extracted from the wood of Myrocarpus fastigiatus, is apromising compound for potential applications in the field of pharmaceuticals and food packaging. To overcomethe low solubility of cabreuva EO and to protect it, a two-step process, emulsion formation compound by chitosan,SDS, and PVA, and subsequent ionic crosslinking with sodium citrate, was proposed. The formulation containing0.75% of chitosan and 1% of SDS proved to be the most stable. An alternative to produce nanostructuresand encapsulate the EO is the fiber formation through the electrospinning method. The system composed by aPVA solution assembled with crosslinked emulsions modified the viscosity, influencing the morphology of theobtained nanofibers. The advantage of the electrospun nanofibers was their ability to be an effective carrier ofthe cabreuva EO and the capacity of controlling the compound release that proved an effective activity againstbroad spectra of micro-organisms (Candida albicans, E. coli, S. aureus, and S. epidermidis).The Gallagher-Corriganmodel, used to fit the release profiles of matrices in contact with increasing ethanol proportionfrom 25:75 to 50:50 showed higher Kb in relation to k suggesting that the polymer swelling played anincreasingly prominent role in the EO delivery. The developed nanostructures would be materialswith potentialapplications in the biomedical field.