Encapsulamento de óleos essenciais em matriz biopolimérica à base de PCL/ Gelatina: fundamentos e aplicações

Abstract

Essential oils are sources of metabolites of great scientific and technological interest. They have properties related to the individual and synergistic chemical components present in their composition, being characteristic of each species. The species Piper aduncum, Piper callosum, Lippia alba and Lippia origanoides have great potential as alternative biodefensives due to the properties present in their essential oils. However, high volatility is one of the variables that negatively impact its application in environmental matrices. The present work aims to report the state of the art of the development of biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles for the encapsulation of essential oils, aiming to prolong their durability and effectiveness when applied in environmental matrices. This work also reports the synthesis of carrier nanoparticles formed by poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL) and gelatin for the encapsulation of the mentioned essential oils, which presented promising results, with encapsulation efficiency higher than 90%, highlighting the essential oil of Lippia alba with 99.8%. The analysis of Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-Vis Spectrophotometry allowed the association and confirmation of the encapsulation, confirming the identification of the functional groups present in the carriers. The developed system can be useful as an alternative biodefensive based on the properties of essential oils and biodegradable carriers.