Schinus molle L. essential oil-loaded chitosan nanoparticles: Preparation, characterization, antifungal and anti-aflatoxigenic properties

Essential oils (EO) have been studied as a possible substitute of fungicides. EO have been loaded in polymeric nanoparticles to prevent their degradation and enhance antifungal activity. In this work was to prepared chitosan nanoparticles with Schinus molle EO by ionotropic gelation. The bionanocomposites were characterized by scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The antifungal activity was evaluated in different growth stages of A. parasiticus (spore germination, radial growth and spore viability) and the effect in aflatoxin production was analyzed by using affinity chromatography columns from VICAM. DLS results showed that the Np-CS and Np-CS-SEO diameters were 361.9 ± 31.4 and 516.9 ± 45.4 nm, respectively. According to SEM, the NPs presented spherical shape and the zeta potential was slightly decreased when Schinus molle EO was incorporated. The Np-CS-SEO (62.5–500 μg mL⁻¹⁾ showed a high inhibition (>80%) on spore germination of A. parasiticus at 12 h of incubation, while, radial growth was not inhibited for these NPs. At a concentration of 500 μg mL⁻¹, Np-CS-SEO inhibited up to 59% the aflatoxin production. Depending on concentration, the Np-CS-SEO can be considered as an alternative to control A. parasiticus.