CyTA - Journal of Food
Essential oil from yarrow (Achillea millefolium L. s. l.) has a broad spectrum of pharmacological activities. However, active chemical components of yarrow oil are sensitive to environmental factors such as, light, oxygen and temperature. Encapsulation of essential oil offers solutions for the limitation. Yarrow oil was encapsulated in hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPβCD) through freeze-drying technique with encapsulation efficiency of 45%. Inclusion complex formation was examined by scanning electron microscope, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy and UV–vis analysis and phase solubility study. Yarrow oil gave strong antioxidant activity of 72% DPPH scavenging at 50 μg/mL. HPβCD could protect active compounds of essential oil and retained antioxidant activity after sunlight exposure. Yarrow oil also exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli with the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 250 μg/mL and 500 μg/mL, respectively. The antibacterial efficacy was much improved after encapsulation against both S. aureus and E. coli with the MIC value of 62.5 μg/mL.
