Nanoencapsulation of basil essential oil alleviates the oxidative stress, genotoxicity and DNA damage in rats exposed to biosynthesized iron nanoparticles.

The application of essential oils in food and pharmaceutical sectors face several challenges due to their sensitivity to oxidation process. Additionally, the biosynthesis of nanometals is growing rapidly; however, the toxicity of these particles against living organisms did not well explore yet. This study aimed to determine the bioactive compounds in basil essential oil (BEO) using GC-MS, to encapsulate and characterize BEO and to evaluate its protective role against the oxidative stress and genotoxicity of biosynthesized iron nanoparticles (Fe-NPs) in rats. Six groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats were treated orally for 4 weeks included the control group, Fe-NPs-treated group (100 mg/kg b.w.); EBEO-treated groups at low (100 mg/kg b.w.) or high (200 mg/kg b.w.) dose and the groups treated with Fe-NPs plus the low or the high dose of EBEO. The GC-MS analysis revealed the identification of 48 compounds and linalool was the major compound. The average sizes and zeta potential of the synthesized Fe-NPs and EBEO were 60 ± 4.76 and 120 ± 3.2 nm and 42.42 mV and -6.4 mV, respectively. Animals treated with Fe-NPs showed significant increase in serum biochemical analysis, oxidative stress markers, cytokines, lipid profile, DNA fragmentation and antioxidant enzymes and their gene expression and severe changes in the histology of liver and kidney tissues. Administration of Fe-NPs plus EBEO alleviated these disturbances and the high dose could normalize most of the tested parameters and improved the histology of liver and kidney. It could be concluded that caution should be taken in using the biosynthesized metal nanoparticles in different application. EBEO is a potent candidate to protect against the hazards of metal nanoparticles and can be applied in food and medical applications.

Elimination of oxidative stress and genotoxicity of biosynthesized titanium dioxide nanoparticles in rats via supplementation with whey protein-coated thyme essential oil.

The green synthesis of metal nanoparticles is growing dramatically; however, the toxicity of these biosynthesized particles against living organisms is not fully explored. Therefore, this study was designed to synthesize and characterize TiO2-NPs, encapsulation and characterization thyme essential oil (ETEO), and determination of the bioactive constituents of ETEO using GC-MS and evaluate their protective role against TiO2-NPs-induced oxidative damage and genotoxicity in rats. Six groups of rats were treated orally for 30 days including the control group, TiO2-NPs (300 mg/kg b.w)-treated group, ETEO at low (50 mg/kg b.w) or high dose (100 mg/kg b.w)-treated groups, and TiO2-NPs plus ETEO at the two doses-treated groups. Blood and tissues were collected for different assays. The GC-MS results indicated the presence of 21 compounds belonging to phenols, terpene derivatives, and heterocyclic compounds. The synthesized TiO2-NPs were 45 nm tetragonal particles with a zeta potential of -27.34 mV; however, ETEO were 119 nm round particles with a zeta potential of -28.33 mV. TiO2-NPs administration disturbs the liver and kidney markers, lipid profile, cytokines, oxidative stress parameters, the apoptotic and antioxidant hepatic mRNA expression, and induced histological alterations in the liver and kidney tissues. ETEO could improve all these parameters in a dose-dependent manner. It could be concluded that ETEO is a promising candidate for the protection against TiO2-NPs and can be applied safely in food applications.

Potential removal of organic loads from petroleum wastewater and its effect on the corrosion behavior of municipal networks.

A potential and cost-effective treatment method utilizing thermally activated bentonite was evaluated for the treatment of highly loaded real petroleum processing wastewater (COD = 4500 mg/L) in order to reduce its COD and improve the corrosion properties. A save discharging COD limit of the treated effluent (800 mg/L) is achieved by using 6 g/L of calcinated bentonite after reaching the steady state (1 h of shaking) at pH 5. The durability of bentonite is proved. The corrosion behavior of the treated wastewater was investigated for mild steel by using electrochemical and weight loss measurements. The results proved that the corrosion rate of the wastewater was slightly reduced after the treatment process. More improvement of the corrosion resistance was achieved by adding sodium hexa-meta-phosphate (SHMP) corrosion inhibitor to the treated water. Tri-methyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) biocide was also added before discharging into municipal networks.