Dataset Information

Antimicrobial Carvacrol-Containing Polypropylene Films: Composition, Structure and Function.

ABSTRACT: Significant research has been directed toward the incorporation of bioactive plant extracts or essential oils (EOs) into polymers to endow the latter with antimicrobial functionality. EOs offer a unique combination of having broad antimicrobial activity from a natural source, generally recognized as safe (GRAS) recognition in the US, and a volatile nature. However, their volatility also presents a major challenge in their incorporation into polymers by conventional high-temperature-processing techniques. Herein, antimicrobial polypropylene (PP) cast films were produced by incorporating carvacrol (a model EO) or carvacrol, loaded into halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), via melt compounding. We studied the composition-structure-property relationships in these systems, focusing on the effect of carvacrol on the composition of the films, the PP crystalline phase and its morphology and the films' mechanical and antimicrobial properties. For the first time, molecular dynamics simulations were applied to reveal the complex interactions between the components of these carvacrol-containing systems. We show that strong molecular interactions between PP and carvacrol minimize the loss of this highly-volatile EO during high-temperature polymer processing, enabling semi-industrial scale production. The resulting films exhibit outstanding antimicrobial properties against model microorganisms (Escherichia coli and Alternaria alternata). The PP/(HNTs-carvacrol) nanocomposite films, containing the carvacrol-loaded HNTs, display a higher level of crystalline order, superior mechanical properties and prolonged release of carvacrol, in comparison to PP/carvacrol blends. These properties are ascribed to the role of HNTs in these nanocomposites and their effect on the PP matrix and retained carvacrol content.

SUBMITTER: Krepker M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6415180 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Antimicrobial Carvacrol-Containing Polypropylene Films: Composition, Structure and Function.

Krepker Max M Prinz-Setter Ofer O Shemesh Rotem R Vaxman Anita A Alperstein David D Segal Ester E

Polymers 20180116 1

Significant research has been directed toward the incorporation of bioactive plant extracts or essential oils (EOs) into polymers to endow the latter with antimicrobial functionality. EOs offer a unique combination of having broad antimicrobial activity from a natural source, generally recognized as safe (GRAS) recognition in the US, and a volatile nature. However, their volatility also presents a major challenge in their incorporation into polymers by conventional high-temperature-processing te ...[more]

PMID: 30966112

Similar Datasets

Project description:In the present study, we have evaluated the in vitro antibacterial activity of essential oils from Origanum vulgare, Thymus vulgaris, Lavandula angustifolia, Mentha piperita, and Melaleuca alternifolia against 32 erythromycin-resistant [Mininum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) ?1 ?g/mL; inducible, constitutive, and e?ux-mediated resistance phenotype; erm(TR), erm(B), and mef(A) genes] and cell-invasive Group A streptococci (GAS) isolated from children with pharyngotonsillitis in Italy. Over the past decades erythromycin resistance in GAS has emerged in several countries; strains combining erythromycin resistance and cell invasiveness may escape ?-lactams because of intracellular location and macrolides because of resistance, resulting in difficulty of eradication and recurrent pharyngitis. Thyme and origanum essential oils demonstrated the highest antimicrobial activity with MICs ranging from 256 to 512 ?g/mL. The phenolic monoterpene carvacrol [2-Methyl-5-(1-methylethyl) phenol] is a major component of the essential oils of Origanum and Thymus plants. MICs of carvacrol ranged from 64 to 256 ?g/mL. In the live/dead assay several dead cells were detected as early as 1 h after incubation with carvacrol at the MIC. In single-step resistance selection studies no resistant mutants were obtained. A synergistic action of carvacrol and erythromycin was detected by the checkerboard assay and calculation of the Fractional Inhibitory Concentration (FIC) Index. A 2- to 2048-fold reduction of the erythromycin MIC was documented in checkerboard assays. Synergy (FIC Index ?0.5) was found in 21/32 strains and was highly significant (p < 0.01) in strains where resistance is expressed only in presence of erythromycin. Synergy was confirmed in 17/23 strains using 24-h time-kill curves in presence of carvacrol and erythromycin. Our findings demonstrated that carvacrol acts either alone or in combination with erythromycin against erythromycin-resistant GAS and could potentially serve as a novel therapeutic tool.

Dataset Information

Antimicrobial Carvacrol-Containing Polypropylene Films: Composition, Structure and Function.

Publications

Antimicrobial Carvacrol-Containing Polypropylene Films: Composition, Structure and Function.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets