Center for Membrane and Water Science & Technology, Collaborative Innovation Center of Membrane Separation and Water Treatment of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China.
College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, and State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zheda Road 38#, 310027 Hangzhou, China.
Food Chem. 2024 Nov 1;457:140167. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.140167. Epub 2024 Jun 21.
Essential oils, well-known for their antifungal properties, are widely utilized to combat fruit decay. However, their application faces big challenges due to their high volatility and hydrophobic traits, which leads to strong odor, short effective time and poor dispersivity. This study aimed to address these challenges by formulating microemulsions consisting of essential oils and rhamnolipids. The optimized microemulsion, featuring a small particle size of 6.8 nm, exhibited higher stability and lower volatility than conventional emulsion. Notably, the prepared microemulsions demonstrated remarkable antimicrobial efficacy against E. coli, S. aureus, C. albicans, S. cerevisiae, and A. niger. The application of these microemulsions proved to be highly effective in preventing blueberry decay while preserving fruit's quality, particularly by minimizing the loss of essential nutrients such as anthocyanins. Consequently, essential oil microemulsions emerge as a highly effective postharvest preservative for fruits, offering a promising solution to extend their shelf life and enhance overall quality.
精油以其抗真菌特性而闻名，被广泛用于防治水果腐烂。然而，由于其高挥发性和疏水性，精油应用面临着很大的挑战，如强烈的气味、有效时间短和分散性差。本研究旨在通过配制由精油和鼠李糖脂组成的微乳液来解决这些问题。优化后的微乳液粒径为 6.8nm，比传统乳液具有更高的稳定性和更低的挥发性。值得注意的是，所制备的微乳液对大肠杆菌、金黄色葡萄球菌、白色念珠菌、酿酒酵母和黑曲霉表现出显著的抗菌功效。这些微乳液的应用在预防蓝莓腐烂的同时保持了水果的品质方面非常有效，特别是通过最大限度地减少如花青素等重要营养物质的损失。因此，精油微乳液作为一种高效的水果采后保鲜剂，为延长其货架期和提高整体品质提供了一种很有前途的解决方案。
