Dados do Trabalho

Título

IN VIVO TOXICITY EVALUATION OF CARVACROL ENCAPSULATED IN CHIA MUCILAGE NANOCAPSULES USING CAENORHABDITIS ELEGANS

Introdução

Carvacrol is an organic compound belonging to the class of phenolic monoterpenes and occurring mainly in oregano and thyme plants. Its use is permitted in small concentrations as a flavoring ingredient in some food categories. Carvacrol has recognized antimicrobial activity against several pathogenic microorganisms of importance to the food industry and can act as a preservative. However, using pure carvacrol in foods can influence their organoleptic characteristics, such as flavor and aroma. Thus, nanoencapsulation emerges as a strategy to solve these problems. However, it is necessary to know the toxicity in vivo of this nanoencapsulated compound before application in foods. The objective of the work was to evaluate the acute toxicity of nanoencapsulated carvacrol using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as an experimental model. Besides, the toxicity of nanocapsules was compared with pure carvacrol (98% purity).

Material e Métodos

Carvacrol was encapsulated in chia mucilage nanocapsules using Ultraturrax. Worms were exposed to concentrations of 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.5 mg/mL-1 of pure and nanoencapsulated carvacrol for 30 minutes and then washed five times. Subsequently, the worms were placed in plates with a medium containing Escherichia coli OP50 for nematodes growth and incubated at 20 ºC for 24 hours. After this incubation time, the rate of alive worms was obtained.

Resultados e Discussão

Our results demonstrate that, with the exception of the concentration of 0.01 mg mL-1 (55.56% survival), all other concentrations of pure carvacrol caused the death of 100% of the nematodes, suggesting a nematicidal activity of pure carvacrol against C. elegans. For nanoencapsulated carvacrol, the survival rates of C. elegans were 56.64%, 36.11%, 22.67% and 3.68% for concentrations of 0.01, 0.05, 0.1 and 0. 5 mg mL-1, respectively. This suggests that, although nanoencapsulated carvacrol presented toxic effects, the survival rate was higher when compared with pure carvacrol. Therefore, further studies must be carried out to elucidate the toxicity mechanisms of this nanoencapsulated compound.

Conclusão

This suggests that, although nanoencapsulated carvacrol presented toxic effects, the survival rate was higher when compared with pure carvacrol. Therefore, further studies must be carried out to elucidate the toxicity mechanisms of this nanoencapsulated compound.