Encapsulation of Nepeta hormozganica and Nepeta dschuprensis essential oils in shrimp chitosan NPs: Enhanced antifungal activity

This study investigated the encapsulation of Nepeta hormozganica (NHEO) and Nepeta Dschuprensis (NDEO) essential oils into chitosan nanoparticles (CSN) via a simple ionic gelation method with tripolyphosphate (TPP). Chitosan (CS) is prepared by demineralizing, deproteinizing, and deacetylating shrimp shells waste in high yield (70.2 %). SEM, TEM, FT-IR, TGA, and XRD techniques were employed to characterize the encapsulated essential oils ((NHEO-CSN) and (NDEO-CSN)). The prepared EOs-CSN and CSN are found with particle sizes of 100-150 nm and 400-500 nm, respectively, and regular distribution. The encapsulation efficiency of encapsulated Nepeta hormozganica and Dschuprensis essential oils were found to be 73.64 % and 75.91 %, respectively. The synthesized nanocapsules were evaluated for antifungal activity against Fusarium oxysporium, Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, Pythium aphanidermatum, Alternaria alternata, Rhizactonia Solani, and Botrytis cinerea. Antifungal studies show that encapsulated essential oils increased antifungal efficiency by up to 100 %.