Biopolymer K-carrageenan wrapped ZnO nanoparticles as drug delivery vehicles for anti MRSA therapy.

Kappa-Carrageenan wrapped ZnO nanoparticles (KC-ZnO NPs) was synthesized, physico-chemically characterized and evaluated their biocompatibility and antimicrobial therapy against MRSA. XRD showed the highly crystalline and hexagonal phase structure of ZnO NPs. FETEM confirmed the spherical and hexagonal shaped particle with the mean size of 97.03 ± 9.05 nm. The synthesized KC-ZnO NPs exhibited significant antibacterial activity against MRSA. The biofilm growth of MRSA was greatly inhibited at 100 µg/ml as observed through live and dead cell assay. KC-ZnO NPs have shown invitro anti-inflammatory activity (82%) at 500 µg/ml. KC-ZnO NPs was non-toxic to NIH3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts cell lines. Further, no apoptotic and necrotic mediated death in NIH3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblasts cells were noticed by flow cytometric analysis. KC-ZnO NPs have good biocompatibility as recorded by the least hemolysis percentage (<3%) up to 100 µg/ml, which is much lesser than the acceptable limit. In addition, ecosafety analysis has shown that KC-ZnO NPs and kappa karrageenan (0-500 µg/ml) caused no mortality of A. salina after 48 h. However, bare zinc acetate has shown 35% mortality of A. salina after 48 h. The results conclude that KC-ZnO NPs could be a novel antibacterial therapy for the treatment of MRSA associated infectious.

Development and characterization of carrageenan/grapefruit seed extract composite films for active packaging.

Carrageenan-based antimicrobial films were developed by incorporation of grape fruit seed extract (GSE) at different concentration into the polymer using a solvent casing method and their physical, mechanical, and antimicrobial properties were examined. The carrageenan/GSE composite films appeared yellowish tint due to the polyphenolic compounds in the GSE. SEM analysis showed rough surface with sponge like structures on the cross section of the films. FT-IR results indicated at GSE had good compatibility with carrageenan. The amorphous structure of polymer films was not changed by the incorporation of GSE. But, the addition of GSE increased moisture content, water vapor permeability, and surface hydrophilicity of the films. The tensile strength and elastic modulus decreased with increasing content of GSE, however, the elongation at break increased significantly up to 6.6µg/mL of GSE then decreased thereafter. Thermal stability of the films was not influenced by GSE incorporation. The carrageenan/GSE composite films exhibited great antibacterial activity against food borne pathogens. These results suggest that the carrageenan-based composite films have a high potential for being used as an antimicrobial or active food packaging applications.