Development of antimicrobial and antioxidant electrospun soluble potato starch nanofibers loaded with carvacrol

Abstract In this study, a method was developed to encapsulated carvacrol in nanofibers from soluble potato starch. The carvacrol was added in starch solutions at various concentrations (0, 20, 30 and 40% v/v) and electrospun into fibers. The morphology, size distribution, thermal stability, FT-IR spectra, relative crystallinity (RC) and antioxidant of the electrospun fibers were analyzed. For mechanical properties and antimicrobial activities evaluation electrospun nonwovens were obtain. The carvacrol-loaded nanofibers showed homogeneous morphology and average diameters ranging from 73 to 95 nm. The carvacrol encapsulated in the nanofibers had greater thermal stability than the free carvacrol. FT-IR analysis showed interactions between starch and carvacrol. The RC of the nanofibers was approximately 40%. The electrospun nonwovens mechanical properties did not present significant differences (p