Chitosan-Encapsulated Nanoparticles Loaded with Artemisia pallens Essential Oil: Synthesis, Characterization, and Antibacterial and Antimycotoxin Applications

Chitosan-Encapsulated Nanoparticles Loaded with Artemisia pallens Essential Oil: Synthesis, Characterization, and Antibacterial and Antimycotoxin Applications | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Chitosan-Encapsulated Nanoparticles Loaded with Artemisia pallens Essential Oil: Synthesis, Characterization, and Antibacterial and Antimycotoxin Applications A Roshan, V Dwaraknath, Mohana D. C, J Gireesha, J Vidya, Mahendra C This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9214856/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens and mycotoxin contamination in food systems require safe and sustainable antimicrobial strategies. Although plant essential oils possess strong antimicrobial properties, their practical application is limited by high volatility and chemical instability. This study developed chitosan-encapsulated nanoparticles loaded with Artemisia pallens essential oil (APEO) to improve its antimicrobial efficacy. APEO was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), which identified 18 phytochemical constituents, with davanone (39.65%) and bicyclogermacrene (28.29%) as the major compounds. Chitosan nanoparticles synthesized via ionic gelation and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optimized nanoformulation (chitosan ratio 1:0.6) exhibited high encapsulation efficiency (72.80%), loading capacity (18.61%), particle size of 131–192 nm, low polydispersity index (0.103–0.194), and positive zeta potential (+ 22.4 to + 31.2 mV), indicating good colloidal stability. The nanoencapsulated formulation (APEOCne) showed enhanced antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli , Klebsiella pneumoniae , Proteus vulgaris , and Staphylococcus aureus , and antifungal activity against Aspergillus flavus , Aspergillus niger , and Fusarium verticillioides compared with free APEO. It also completely inhibited aflatoxin B1 and fumonisin B1 production at 2.0 mg L⁻¹. Molecular docking suggested strong binding of davanone to aflatoxin biosynthetic enzymes (Ver-1 and Omt-A). Davanone Chitosan nanoparticles Nanoencapsulation Antimicrobial activity Aflatoxin B1 Fumonisin B1 Molecular docking Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9214856","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":627257550,"identity":"733b28b9-05dd-464c-a070-ec55ba942e51","order_by":0,"name":"A Roshan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bangalore University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"A","middleName":"","lastName":"Roshan","suffix":""},{"id":627257551,"identity":"19af7260-ddf0-4a25-a7f3-c3647b0b7f76","order_by":1,"name":"V Dwaraknath","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Tumakuru University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"V","middleName":"","lastName":"Dwaraknath","suffix":""},{"id":627257552,"identity":"c1bb9938-8067-4ca6-84b7-4706cb24d7b2","order_by":2,"name":"Mohana D. 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Although plant essential oils possess strong antimicrobial properties, their practical application is limited by high volatility and chemical instability. This study developed chitosan-encapsulated nanoparticles loaded with \u003cem\u003eArtemisia pallens\u003c/em\u003e essential oil (APEO) to improve its antimicrobial efficacy. APEO was extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed using gas chromatography\u0026ndash;mass spectrometry (GC\u0026ndash;MS), which identified 18 phytochemical constituents, with davanone (39.65%) and bicyclogermacrene (28.29%) as the major compounds. Chitosan nanoparticles synthesized via ionic gelation and characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The optimized nanoformulation (chitosan ratio 1:0.6) exhibited high encapsulation efficiency (72.80%), loading capacity (18.61%), particle size of 131\u0026ndash;192 nm, low polydispersity index (0.103\u0026ndash;0.194), and positive zeta potential (+\u0026thinsp;22.4 to +\u0026thinsp;31.2 mV), indicating good colloidal stability. The nanoencapsulated formulation (APEOCne) showed enhanced antibacterial activity against \u003cem\u003eEscherichia coli\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eKlebsiella pneumoniae\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eProteus vulgaris\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eStaphylococcus aureus\u003c/em\u003e, and antifungal activity against \u003cem\u003eAspergillus flavus\u003c/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eAspergillus niger\u003c/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eFusarium verticillioides\u003c/em\u003e compared with free APEO. It also completely inhibited aflatoxin B1 and fumonisin B1 production at 2.0 mg L⁻\u0026sup1;. Molecular docking suggested strong binding of davanone to aflatoxin biosynthetic enzymes (Ver-1 and Omt-A).\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Chitosan-Encapsulated Nanoparticles Loaded with Artemisia pallens Essential Oil: Synthesis, Characterization, and Antibacterial and Antimycotoxin Applications","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-04-23 11:16:04","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9214856/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"51354806-4fd5-4235-959e-dfb706e886b1","owner":[],"postedDate":"April 23rd, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"decision","content":"Rejected","date":"2026-05-02T02:02:14+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-02T02:09:32+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-04-23 11:16:04","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9214856","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9214856","identity":"rs-9214856","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}