Nanopartículado do óleo essencial de Eplingiella fruticosa: uma potencial alternativa para têxteis bioativos

Abstract

The use of plants in popular medicine has contributed significantly to the prevention, treatment, and cure of diseases. An example of such plants is the Eplingiella fruticosa (Lamiaceae), popularly known as “alecrim-de-vaqueiro”, a native shrub from Brazil’s northeastern region, with antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant activities. Although this plant is known in popular medicine, there is little scientific investigation on this subject, which has led to the development of research in order to discover and prove what bioactive activities related to this plant act on diseases. These actions motivated the necessity to carry out this research, focusing on the use of essential oil (EO). This study aimed to test the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil extracted from the leaves of the Eplingiella fruticosa (“Alecrim-dovaqueiro” Essential Oil, AVEO) and its potential application by microemulsion system (MS) for the development of functional textiles. The essential oil has mainly displayed the following components: 1.8 - Cineole (29.15%), β-Caryophyllene (12.57%), cis - calamenene (8.71%), and β-Pinene (4.86%). The formulated AVMS (“Alecrim de Vaqueiro” Microemulsion System) is composed of Tween 80 surfactant, E. fruticosa essential oil, and water; it has physicochemical properties of pH = 5, droplet diameter of 12.5 nm, prolidispersion index of 0.22, and resistance to thermal stress up to 95°C. In the research, 3 microorganisms were tested: the yeast Candida albicans showed to be sensitive, while the bacterias S. aureus and E. coli showed low sensitivity when in contact with the AVEO. For the antioxidant activity evaluated by the method of Total Antioxidant Capacity, the encapsulation by the Microemulsion System (AVMS) increased the antioxidant activity threefold when compared to the free AVEO. Therefore, the AVMS presents itself as a biodegradable system and does not pose risks to human health and the environment, and the AVEO has antioxidant and antifungal action against C. albicans, which makes these two potential products to be used in the textile, cosmetotextile, and biomedical industrial areas.