Enhancing basil essential oil microencapsulation using pectin/casein biopolymers: Optimization through D-optimal design, controlled release modeling, and characterization.

A D-optimal design was employed to optimize the microencapsulation (MEC) of basil essential oil (BEO) within a biopolymer matrix using the complex coacervation technique. BEO microcapsules (BEO-MCs) obtained under the optimal conditions exhibited high yield and efficiency with 80.45 ± 0.01 % and 93.10 ± 0.18 %, respectively. The successful MEC of BEO with an average particle size of 4.81 ± 2.86 µm was confirmed by ATR-FTIR, X-RD, and SEM analyses. Furthermore, the thermal stability of BEO-MCs was assessed using TGA-DSC analysis, which provided valuable insights into the MC's thermal stability. Furthermore, the proposed model, with a high R2 value (0.99) and low RMSE (1.56 %), was the most suitable one among the tested models for the controlled release kinetics of the optimal BEO-MCs under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. The successful optimization of BEO MEC using biopolymers through the D-optimal design could be a promising avenue for food and pharmaceutical industries, providing new strategies for the development of effective products.

A bionanocomposite of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate)/ZnO-nanoparticles intended for food packaging.

Films-based bionanocomposites have gained a great importance in food plastic packaging because they are eco-friendly materials and have the potential to improve food protection, while limiting the accumulation of synthetic plastics on the planet. In this paper, biofilms were prepared using poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) (PHBHHx) reinforced with Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) to develop new bionanocomposite materials intended for food packaging. The samples were fabricated using first solvent casting method followed by melt compounding at various loading rates, i.e., 1.5, 3 and 6 wt%. The obtained results showed that the incorporation of ZnO-NPs to PHBHHx at 3 wt% leads to higher crystallinity, improved mechanical properties and antimicrobial activity, compared with neat polymer and other bionanocomposites. This was attributed to the finer and homogeneous nanofiller dispersion in the polymer matrix evidenced by scanning electron microscopy analysis. Whereas at 6 wt%, the bionanocomposite sample exhibited low mechanical properties due to the formation of ZnO-NPs aggregates. In view of the obtained results, the study highlights the potential of using the PHBHHx/ZnO-NPs bionanocomposite at 3 wt% in food packaging without any prior filler treatment.