TY - JOUR
T1 - Biocomposites of silk-elastin and essential oil from mentha piperita display antibacterial activity
AU - Gomes, Diana S.
AU - da Costa, André
AU - Pereira, Ana Margarida
AU - Casal, Margarida
AU - Machado, Raul
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by “Contrato-Programa” UIDB/04050/2020, project FunBioPlas (ERA-IB-2-6/0004/2014) and project FUN2CYT (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-030568) funded by Portugal national funds through the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT I.P.). The authors also acknowledge Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) through Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) under the scope of project ECOBiB (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-033997). A.M.P. acknowledges the Doctoral Programme in Applied and Environmental Microbiology (DP_AEM) and FCT I.P. for the PD/BD/113811/2015 grant. R.M. acknowledges FCT I.P. for funding in the scope of the Scientific Employment Stimulus instrument (CEECIND/00526/2018).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society
PY - 2022/3/1
Y1 - 2022/3/1
N2 - In this study, novel antimicrobial biocomposite films comprising a genetically engineered silk-elastin protein polymer (SELP) and essential oil from Mentha piperita (MPEO) have been fabricated and tested for the antibacterial performance. SELP/MPEO biocomposite films were prepared by solvent casting using water as the solvent and aqueous emulsions of MPEO at different concentrations. Emulsions of MPEO were investigated, showing that the mixing method, relative amount of surfactant, and the presence of SELP influence particle size and homogeneity. The aqueous emulsions of SELP/MPEO were characterized by a population of particles between 100 and 300 nm, depending on the MPEO concentration. The emulsified oil droplets at the highest concentration showed to be homogeneously distributed into the SELP matrix and demonstrated antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, the antibacterial activity of the biocomposite films was retained after a period of storage for 7 days at 4 °C. The formulation of composites comprising natural active fillers and recombinant protein polymers opens opportunities to develop new green, functional biocomposite materials, paving the way for a new generation of multifunctional materials.
AB - In this study, novel antimicrobial biocomposite films comprising a genetically engineered silk-elastin protein polymer (SELP) and essential oil from Mentha piperita (MPEO) have been fabricated and tested for the antibacterial performance. SELP/MPEO biocomposite films were prepared by solvent casting using water as the solvent and aqueous emulsions of MPEO at different concentrations. Emulsions of MPEO were investigated, showing that the mixing method, relative amount of surfactant, and the presence of SELP influence particle size and homogeneity. The aqueous emulsions of SELP/MPEO were characterized by a population of particles between 100 and 300 nm, depending on the MPEO concentration. The emulsified oil droplets at the highest concentration showed to be homogeneously distributed into the SELP matrix and demonstrated antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, the antibacterial activity of the biocomposite films was retained after a period of storage for 7 days at 4 °C. The formulation of composites comprising natural active fillers and recombinant protein polymers opens opportunities to develop new green, functional biocomposite materials, paving the way for a new generation of multifunctional materials.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85125119218&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acsomega.1c05704
DO - 10.1021/acsomega.1c05704
M3 - Article
C2 - 35252653
AN - SCOPUS:85125119218
VL - 7
SP - 6568
EP - 6578
JO - ACS Omega
JF - ACS Omega
SN - 2470-1343
IS - 8
ER -