Syarifah Ab Rashid, Woei-Yenn Tong, Chean-Ring Leong, Wen-Nee Tan, Chee-Keong Lee, Mohd Razealy Anuar, Siew-Hway Teo, Siti Khalida Abdull Lazit, Jun-Wei Lim, Nur Amiera Syuhada Rozman
{"title":"Thymol-Loaded Polymeric Nanoparticles Improve the Postharvest Microbiological Safety of Blueberries.","authors":"Syarifah Ab Rashid, Woei-Yenn Tong, Chean-Ring Leong, Wen-Nee Tan, Chee-Keong Lee, Mohd Razealy Anuar, Siew-Hway Teo, Siti Khalida Abdull Lazit, Jun-Wei Lim, Nur Amiera Syuhada Rozman","doi":"10.17113/ftb.61.02.23.7595","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Research background: </strong>The presence of <i>Yersinia enterocolitica</i> on raw food products raises the concern of yersiniosis as most of the berries are consumed raw. This is a challenging issue from the food safety aspect since it could increase the occurrence of foodborne diseases among humans. Thus, it is crucial to implement an effective sanitation before the packaging.</p><p><strong>Experimental approach: </strong>This study aims to synthesize and characterize thymol-loaded polyvinyl alcohol (Thy/PVA) nanoparticles as a sanitizer for postharvest treatment of blueberries. Thy/PVA nanoparticles were characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic approaches, prior to the analyses of antimicrobial properties.</p><p><strong>Results and conclusions: </strong>The diameter size of the nanoparticles was on average 84.7 nm, with a surface charge of -11.73 mV. Based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurement, the Thy/PVA nanoparticles notably shifted to the frequency of 3275.70, 2869.66, 1651.02 and 1090.52 cm<sup>-1</sup>. A rapid burst was observed in the first hour of release study, and 74.9 % thymol was released from the PVA nanoparticles. The largest inhibition zone was displayed by methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA), followed by <i>Y. enterocolitica</i> and <i>Salmonella typhi</i>. However, amongst these bacteria, the inhibition and killing of <i>Y. enterocolitica</i> required a lower concentration of Thy/PVA nanoparticles. The treatment successfully reduced the bacterial load of <i>Y. enterocolitica</i> on blueberries by 100 %.</p><p><strong>Novelty and scientific contribution: </strong>Thymol is a plant-based chemical without reported adverse effects to humans. In this study, by using the nanotechnology method of encapsulation with PVA, we improved the stability and physicochemical properties of thymol. This nanoparticle-based sanitizer could potentially promote the postharvest microbiological safety of raw berries, which may become an alternative practice of food safety.</p>","PeriodicalId":12400,"journal":{"name":"Food Technology and Biotechnology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10339727/pdf/","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Food Technology and Biotechnology","FirstCategoryId":"97","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.17113/ftb.61.02.23.7595","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Research background: The presence of Yersinia enterocolitica on raw food products raises the concern of yersiniosis as most of the berries are consumed raw. This is a challenging issue from the food safety aspect since it could increase the occurrence of foodborne diseases among humans. Thus, it is crucial to implement an effective sanitation before the packaging.
Experimental approach: This study aims to synthesize and characterize thymol-loaded polyvinyl alcohol (Thy/PVA) nanoparticles as a sanitizer for postharvest treatment of blueberries. Thy/PVA nanoparticles were characterized by spectroscopic and microscopic approaches, prior to the analyses of antimicrobial properties.
Results and conclusions: The diameter size of the nanoparticles was on average 84.7 nm, with a surface charge of -11.73 mV. Based on Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurement, the Thy/PVA nanoparticles notably shifted to the frequency of 3275.70, 2869.66, 1651.02 and 1090.52 cm-1. A rapid burst was observed in the first hour of release study, and 74.9 % thymol was released from the PVA nanoparticles. The largest inhibition zone was displayed by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), followed by Y. enterocolitica and Salmonella typhi. However, amongst these bacteria, the inhibition and killing of Y. enterocolitica required a lower concentration of Thy/PVA nanoparticles. The treatment successfully reduced the bacterial load of Y. enterocolitica on blueberries by 100 %.
Novelty and scientific contribution: Thymol is a plant-based chemical without reported adverse effects to humans. In this study, by using the nanotechnology method of encapsulation with PVA, we improved the stability and physicochemical properties of thymol. This nanoparticle-based sanitizer could potentially promote the postharvest microbiological safety of raw berries, which may become an alternative practice of food safety.
期刊介绍:
Food Technology and Biotechnology (FTB) is a diamond open access, peer-reviewed international quarterly scientific journal that publishes papers covering a wide range of topics, including molecular biology, genetic engineering, biochemistry, microbiology, biochemical engineering and biotechnological processing, food science, analysis of food ingredients and final products, food processing and technology, oenology and waste treatment.
The Journal is published by the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, Croatia. It is an official journal of Croatian Society of Biotechnology and Slovenian Microbiological Society, financed by the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education, and supported by the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.