Electrospinning of cyclodextrin/linalool-inclusion complex nanofibers: Fast-dissolving nanofibrous web with prolonged release and antibacterial activity.

The volatility and limited water solubility of linalool is a critical issue to be solved. Here, we demonstrated the electrospinning of polymer-free nanofibrous webs of cyclodextrin/linalool-inclusion complex (CD/linalool-IC-NFs). Three types of modified cyclodextrin (HPßCD, MßCD, and HPγCD) were used to electrospin CD/linalool-IC-NFs. Free-standing CD/linalool-IC-NFs facilitate maximum loading of linalool up to 12% (w/w). A significant amount of linalool (45-89%) was preserved in CD/linalool-IC-NFs, due to enhancement in the thermal stability of linalool by cyclodextrin inclusion complexation. Remarkably, CD/linalool-IC-NFs have shown fast-dissolving characteristics in which these nanofibrous webs dissolved in water within two seconds. Furthermore, linalool release from CD/linalool-IC-NFs inhibited growth of model Gram-negative (E. coli) and Gram-positive (S. aureus) bacteria to a great extent. Briefly, characteristics of liquid linalool have been preserved in a solid nanofiber form and designed CD/linalool-IC-NFs confer high loading capacity, enhanced shelf life and strong antibacterial activity of linalool.

Fast-Dissolving, Prolonged Release, and Antibacterial Cyclodextrin/Limonene-Inclusion Complex Nanofibrous Webs via Polymer-Free Electrospinning.

We have proposed a new strategy for preparing free-standing nanofibrous webs from an inclusion complex (IC) of a well-known flavor/fragrance compound (limonene) with three modified cyclodextrins (HPßCD, MßCD, and HPγCD) via electrospinning (CD/limonene-IC-NFs) without using a polymeric matrix. The experimental and computational modeling studies proved that the stoichiometry of the complexes was 1:1 for CD/limonene systems. MßCD/limonene-IC-NF released much more limonene at 37, 50, and 75 °C than HPßCD/limonene-IC-NF and HPγCD/limonene-IC-NF because of the greater amount of preserved limonene. Moreover, MßCD/limonene-IC-NF has released only 25% (w/w) of its limonene, whereas HPßCD/limonene-IC-NF and HPγCD/limonene-IC-NF released 51 and 88% (w/w) of their limonene in 100 days, respectively. CD/limonene-IC-NFs exhibited high antibacterial activity against E. coli and S. aureus. The water solubility of limonene increased significantly and CD/limonene-IC-NFs were dissolved in water in a few seconds. In brief, CD/limonene-IC-NFs with fast-dissolving character enhanced the thermal stability and prolonged the shelf life along with antibacterial properties could be quite applicable in food and oral care applications.

Polymer-free nanofibers from vanillin/cyclodextrin inclusion complexes: high thermal stability, enhanced solubility and antioxidant property.

Vanillin/cyclodextrin inclusion complex nanofibers (vanillin/CD-IC NFs) were successfully obtained from three modified CD types (HPßCD, HPγCD and MßCD) in three different solvent systems (water, DMF and DMAc) via an electrospinning technique without using a carrier polymeric matrix. Vanillin/CD-IC NFs with uniform and bead-free fiber morphology were successfully produced and their free-standing nanofibrous webs were obtained. The polymer-free CD/vanillin-IC-NFs allow us to accomplish a much higher vanillin loading (∼12%, w/w) when compared to electrospun polymeric nanofibers containing CD/vanillin-IC (∼5%, w/w). Vanillin has a volatile nature yet, after electrospinning, a significant amount of vanillin was preserved due to complex formation depending on the CD types. Maximum preservation of vanillin was observed for vanillin/MßCD-IC NFs which is up to ∼85% w/w, besides, a considerable amount of vanillin (∼75% w/w) was also preserved for vanillin/HPßCD-IC NFs and vanillin/HPγCD-IC NFs. Phase solubility studies suggested a 1 : 1 molar complexation tendency between guest vanillin and host CD molecules. Molecular modelling studies and experimental findings revealed that vanillin : CD complexation was strongest for MßCD when compared to HPßCD and HPγCD in vanillin/CD-IC NFs. For vanillin/CD-IC NFs, water solubility and the antioxidant property of vanillin was improved significantly owing to inclusion complexation. In brief, polymer-free vanillin/CD-IC NFs are capable of incorporating a much higher loading of vanillin and effectively preserve volatile vanillin. Hence, encapsulation of volatile active agents such as flavor, fragrance and essential oils in electrospun polymer-free CD-IC NFs may have potential for food related applications by integrating the particularly large surface area of NFs with the non-toxic nature of CD and inclusion complexation benefits, such as high temperature stability, improved water solubility and an enhanced antioxidant property, etc.