Evaluation of Nanotechnology Effects on the Microbiological and Biological Properties of Thyme Essential Oil
Keywords:
nanotechnology, thyme essential oil, nanoemulsion, normal sizeAbstract
The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of nanotechnology on the properties of thyme essential oil (microbiological and biological properties). This was done by preparing a nanoemulsion of thyme essential oil and comparing its properties with thyme essential oil at normal size. This was done in five stages; first stage is to check the presence of active components of thyme essential oil by GC/Ms. The second stage is preparation nanoemulsion of thyme essential oil using water
and non-anionic surfactant (tween 80). Third stage is the characterization of nanoemulsion by TEM and zeta potential. Fourth stage is studying the difference microbiological effect of thyme essential oil and nanoemulsion of thyme essential oil on bacteria (E. coli and salmonella), and comparison between them. The final stage is studying the biological effect of thyme essential oil and nanoemulsion of thyme essential oil on breast cancer cell line, and comparison between them. Fractionation and identification of chemical components of thyme oil by GC/MS showed that thyme essential oil contained 14 components and the main component named Carvacrol with percentage 43.27%. Characterization of thyme essential oil nanoemulsion confirmed contain it nanoparticles with spherical shape, dispersed in the nanoemulsion, with range of 39.27nm to 86.69nm, and negative charge for zeta potential.
microbiological analysis of normal and nano thyme essential oil showed that, normal and nano thyme essential oil have antibacterial effect against E. coli and salmonella, and nano thyme essential oil was more effective than normal thyme essential oil as antibacterial. Also, biological studying of normal and nano thyme essential oil confirmed the anticancer effect of them against breast cancer cells line (MCF-7), as well nano thyme essential oil has better effect on breast cancer cells than normal thyme essential oils at all concentrations.
