부산대학교 도서관

Natural sources have shown biological activities against pathogens in vitro, but have not yet been discovered widely in vivo. The volatile nature, poor stability, and solubility of them restrict their usage in pharmaceutical industries. In recent years, nanotechnology has been proposed as a key to answer this problem. Nanoencapsulation has been used in various pharmaceutical and therapeutic applications. Nanocarriers can enhance the biological properties due to the small size that improves the cellular uptake. The present study evaluated how nanoencapsulation of cumin essential oil (CEO) affects the chemical composition and inhibition of nosocomial infections and standard pathogens. Following isolation of the CEO and nanoencapsulation cumin essential oil (NECEO), the chemical components was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and their antibacterial/antifungal of the nosocomial infections and standard pathogens effects were evaluated. Nanoencapsulation significantly increased NECEO yield and the concentration of main components (cumin aldehyde and cumic alcohol). Results showed that nanoencapsulation significantly decreased the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of NECEO against nosocomial infections and standard pathogens. The results suggested that NECEO can be regarded as a promising pharmaceutical source. Therefore, nanoparticle may be considered as a useful agent for improving EO chemical and biological properties. These observations could be used for future experiments to further evaluate potential nanoparticles and other medicinal plants.