Abstract

Citral is an essential oil with antimicrobial activity against a broad range of microorganisms. However, its low solubility and susceptibility to environmental conditions difficult the use of citral in the food industry. In this study, the formulation of an eco-friendly emulsion of citral obtained by ultrasound was optimized using a Box-Behnken design. The effect of arabic gum (AG), sodium alginate (SA), maltodextrin (MD), and their concentration on the droplet size of the emulsion was evaluated. Based on the droplet size (1 μm), the emulsion formulated using 7.5% of AG and 0.4% of SA was selected as optimal with viscosity 34.63 cP, pH 5.76, and conductivity 1.426 mS. This emulsion retains the 92% volatile fraction of citral and contributes to increase the thermal stability of the essential oil from 37 to 185 °C. Besides, it has antifungal properties against Fusarium sp., contributing to reduce in 66% of the disease incidence caused by this fungus in bananas. Therefore, the optimal emulsion formulated in this research can be used to control the postharvest decay in fruits. Moreover, it can be used to obtain microcapsules and microfibers that can be used as edible coatings in the food industry.

摘要

柠檬醛是一种精油，对多种微生物具有抗菌活性。然而，其溶解度低和对环境条件的敏感性使柠檬醛难以在食品工业中使用。在这项研究中，使用 Box-Behnken 设计优化了通过超声波获得的环保柠檬醛乳液的配方。评估了阿拉伯胶 (AG)、海藻酸钠 (SA)、麦芽糖糊精 (MD) 及其浓度对乳液液滴大小的影响。根据液滴尺寸（1 μm），选择使用 7.5% AG 和 0.4% SA 配制的乳液最佳，粘度为 34.63 cP，pH 5.76，电导率为 1.426 m S. 该乳液保留了 92% 的柠檬醛挥发分，有助于提高精油在 37 至 185 °C 的热稳定性。此外，它还具有抗镰刀菌的抗真菌特性，有助于降低 66% 的香蕉中这种真菌引起的疾病发病率。因此，本研究配制的最佳乳液可用于控制果实采后腐烂。此外，它还可用于获得可用作食品工业中可食用涂层的微胶囊和微纤维。