Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Faculty of Agriculture, University of Torbat Heydarieh, IRAN
2 Department of Plant Production, University of Torbat Heydariyeh, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran
3 Department of Biology, Payam Noor University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
In this study, the antimicrobial properties of saffron safranal and its encapsulation with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) as the wall and gum arabic (GA) as the emulsifier were investigated by the co-precipitation method. The effect of gum arabic on the encapsulation rate, particle size, release rate, and structural properties of microcapsules were evaluated. At the optimal ratio of safranal to gum arabic (1:3 w/w), the encapsulation rate was 61.87% and the average particle size was 20.8 μm. FTIR analysis showed that gum arabic only played the role of emulsifier and did not affect the chemical structure of β-CD. DLS and XRD confirmed the uniform distribution of particles and the preservation of the crystalline structure of safranal. The antimicrobial activity of safranal and its microcapsules against Botryodiplodia theobromae and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides was investigated, and the results showed that encapsulation improved the loading capacity and encapsulation efficiency. This study showed that the use of β-CD and gum arabic can stabilize and maintain the antimicrobial properties of safranal and control its release. These features make safranal encapsulation suitable for use in the pharmaceutical and food industries.
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