Óleo essencial de sementes e folhas de Syzygium cumini e óleo desodorizado de Melaleuca alternifolia: potencial antimicrobiano e antioxidante

Abstract

Essential oils obtained from plants may have antimicrobial and antioxidant properties, allowing its use in food and medicine. The jambolan (Syzygium cumini) and Melaleuca alternifolia, both belonging to the Myrtaceae family can be used to obtain an essential oil. The strong characteristic odor and the insolubility of the essential oils are limiting factors for its use due to it an alternative to extend the use is the deodorization process. Thus the objective of this study was to evaluate the essential oil characteristics jambolan and deodorized oil Melaleuca alternifolia, microencapsulating the deodorized oil Melaleuca alternifolia and evaluate their properties. The essential oil jambolan, extracted from the seeds, presented as the main constituent the β-caryophyllene and did not show antioxidant activity in the DPPH method. Essential oils from the leaves and seeds jambolan showed antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella Typhimurium, Listeria monocytogenes, Trichoderma spp. and Rizhopus spp. The deodorized oil Melaleuca alternifolia showed low content of phenolic compounds and absence of terpenes. However, the oil showed antibacterial activity and no antifungal activity. It was obtained high encapsulation efficiency of deodorized oil Melaleuca alternifolia by simple coacervation technique using chitosan and tannic acid, the results were confirmed by Calorimetry Differential Scanning technique. The microparticles presented irregular size and distinctive shape. The microparticles showed potent inhibition compared to the microorganisms evaluated due to the antimicrobial property of chitosan, but no antioxidant activity. No significant differences were observed for the presence of tannic acid in the microparticles. The deodorized oil Melaleuca alternifolia has potential application in burger due to present antimicrobial activity against the Escherichia coli.