Morphology and characteristics of 3D nanonetwork porous starch-based nanomaterial via a simple sacrifice template approach for clove essential oil encapsulation

This study aimed at reporting on the nanoencapsulate clove essential oil (CEO) as natural food preservative and its enhancement in antimicrobial activities by 3D nanonetwork porous starch-based material (3D-NPS). 3D-NPS loaded CEO were fabricated via a sacrifice template approach using potato starch for the first time. The effects of the CaCO3 NPs concentration, encapsulation efficiency, temperature, and antimicrobial activity on the CEO-loaded 3D-NPS characteristics were investigated. The as-prepared 3D-NPS formed as the content of CaCO3 NPs/starch at 3:2 showed good uniformity and almost honeycomb shape, with channel diameters of about 200−300 nm. After encapsulation of CEO, the maximum encapsulation efficiency of CEO-loaded 3D-NPS reached 86.7 %, and it possessed enhanced stability against thermal treatment. The slow-release properties of CEO from 3D-NPS was describe exactly by the pseudo-first-order kinetics model. Moreover, the CEO loaded 3D-NPS not only revealed greatly enhanced antimicrobial activity against B. subtilis, S. aureus, and E. coli, but also significantly extended the duration of the antimicrobial activity of CEO. This novel method for the preparation of 3D-NPS is simple, non-toxic, and high-yield, exhibiting a promising platform for encapsulation and sustained release of unstable essential oils or other substances.