Original Article Study of antimicrobial activity of anethole and carvone loaded PLGA nanoparticles Mehdi Esfandyari-Manesh a , Zahra Ghaedi b , Mahboobeh Asemi c , Mahnaz Khanavi c , Azadeh Manayi c , Hossein Jamalifar d , Fatemeh Atyabi a,b , Rassoul Dinarvand a,b, * a Nanotechnology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 1417614411, Iran b Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran c Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran d Department of Drug and Food Control, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran article info Article history: Received 9 April 2013 Accepted 21 April 2013 Available online 11 May 2013 Keywords: Anethole Antimicrobial activity Carvone Controlled release PLGA nanoparticles abstract Background: The objective of this work was to prepare poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles for prolonging the efficacy of antimicrobial activity of anethole and carvone essential oils. Methods: Nanoparticles were prepared using emulsification solvent evaporation (ESE) and nanoprecipitation methods. The morphology, size and size distribution, drug loading, entrapment efficiency, release profile and antimicrobial activity of nanoparticles were characterized. Results and discussion: Nanoprecipitation method was produced nanoparticles with smaller size (158 and 126 nm for anethole and carvone, respectively), narrower size distribution (PDI of 0.08e0.2), higher drug loading (14.73% and 12.32% for anethole and carvone, respectively) and better inhibition of microbial growth than ESE. Drug release studies conducted in vitro at 37  C for 4 days for carvone and 9 days for anethole showed an initial burst (36% and 16%, respectively) followed by a slower rate. On microbial analysis, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of anethole loaded nanoparticles against Salmo- nella typhi was 227 mg/mL and the MIC of carvone loaded nanoparticles against Staphylo- coccus aureus and Enterococcus coli was 182e374 mg/mL respectively. Conclusion: Nanoparticles prepared in this study showed suitable size and morphology. Antimicrobial studies suggest that essential oil loaded PLGA nanoparticles could be useful in biomedical and food applications. Copyright ª 2013, JPR Solutions; Published by Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Essential oils are recognized as volatile oily liquids obtained from plant that chemically constituted by variable mixture of constituent such as monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes and also aromatic compounds called phenylpropanes. 1 They are known for their antimicrobial, virucidal, fungicidal, analgesic, sedative, anti-inflammatory, spasmolytic and locally anes- thetic properties. 2 Application of essential oils could control the growth of food-borne bacteria and other pathogenic mi- croorganisms. 3 Anethole and carvone occur naturally in many essential oils, and they have antimicrobial activity. Anethole * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ98 21 66 95 90 95; fax: þ98 21 66 95 90 96. E-mail address: dinarvand@tums.ac.ir (R. Dinarvand). Available online at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jopr journal of pharmacy research 7 (2013) 290 e295 0974-6943/$ e see front matter Copyright ª 2013, JPR Solutions; Published by Reed Elsevier India Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jopr.2013.04.019