Eugenol-loaded chitosan nanoparticles: I. Thermal stability improvement of eugenol through encapsulation

The objective of the present work was to improve the thermal stability of eugenol by encapsulating into chitosan nanoparticles via an emulsion-ionic gelation crosslinking method. The influences of the initial eugenol content and tripolyphosphate (TPP) concentration on the loading capacity (LC), encapsulation efficiency (EE), morphology and surface charge of the eugenol-loaded chitosan nanoparticles were also investigated. LC and EE tended to increase with increasing initial eugenol content and decreasing TPP concentration. Particles with LC of 12% and EE of 20% exhibited a spherical shape with an average size of less than 100 nm. Thermal stability of the encapsulated eugenol was verified through its extrusion at 155°C with a model plastic, i.e. thermoplastic flour (TPF). TPF containing encapsulated eugenol showed 8-fold higher remaining eugenol content and 2.7-fold greater radical scavenging activity than that containing naked eugenol. The results suggest the possible use of eugenol-loaded chitosan nanoparticles as antioxidants in bioactive plastics for food packaging.