Evaluation of the Antibacterial Properties of Polyvinyl Alcohol-Pullulan Scaffolds Loaded with Nepeta racemosa Lam. Essential Oil and Perspectives for Possible Applications

• Published in: Plants (Basel) Vol. 12; no. 4; p. 898
• Main Authors: Lungoci, Constantin, Rîmbu, Cristina Mihaela, Motrescu, Iuliana, Serbezeanu, Diana, Horhogea, Cristina Elena, Vlad-Bubulac, Tăchiță, Ghițău, Carmen Simona, Puiu, Ioan, Neculai-Văleanu, Andra-Sabina, Robu, Teodor
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 16.02.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Acids; Antibacterial activity; Antimicrobial activity; Antimicrobial agents; Drug resistance; essential oil; Essential oils; Food; Food industry; Food packaging; Gas chromatography; Gels; Gentamicin; Hydrogels; Light microscopy; Mass spectroscopy; Morphology; Nepeta; Nepeta racemosa; Oils & fats; Optical microscopy; Pharmaceutical industry; Polymers; Polyvinyl alcohol; Pullulan; Scanning electron microscopy; Spectrum analysis; Tissue engineering; Ultraviolet spectroscopy; VOCs; Volatile organic compounds; Nepeta; antimicrobial activity; essential oil
• ISSN: 2223-7747; 2223-7747
• DOI: 10.3390/plants12040898

Essential oil of Lam. was extracted and characterized to determine its antimicrobial activity and potential use in applications. The essential oil was loaded on polyvinyl alcohol-pullulan films and gels and characterized by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and UV-Vis spectroscopy before having its antimicrobial capacities assessed. The essential oil extracted from Lam. was characterized using gas chromatography coupled with mass spectroscopy, which indicated that the most abundant component was nepetalic acid (55.5%), followed by eucalyptol (10.7%) and other compounds with concentrations of about 5% or less. The essential oil, as well as the loaded films and gels, exhibited good antibacterial activity on both gram-positive and gram-negative strains, with growth inhibition zones larger in some cases than for gentamicin, indicating excellent premises for using these essential-oil-loaded materials for applications in the food industry or biomedicine.