Abstract

The present study intended to produce electrospun zein nanofibres containing concentrations varying from 1 to 4 w/w of Barije essential oil (BEO): BEO is said to have anti-diabetic and antioxidant properties. The BEO loaded nanofibres were characterised for chemical composition, morphology, chemical structure, thermal behaviour, alpha-amylase and alpha-glucosidase inhibitory action. Moreover, the kinetic release of BEO in simulated gastric and intestinal media was investigated. SEM and FT-IR results indicated that BEO was successfully entrapped in the ribbon-like zein fibres and that the nanofibres showed an encapsulation efficiency close to 95. The fibre encapsulated BEO also retained its antioxidant capacity, although it had been exposed to high strength electric fields during manufacture. BEO-loaded zein nanofibres showed alpha-glucosidase and alpha-amylase inhibition activity with an IC50 value ranging of 0.78 +/- 0.01 to 1.25 +/- 0.03 and 1.09 +/- 0.02 to 1.64 +/- 0.01 mg/ml, respectively. Model fitting results showed that a first-order model is effective for describing the release of BEO into simulated stomach media, a Hixon-Crowell model relates BEO release to intestinal conditions and the Rigter-Peppas model describes time of release. The study indicates that combining BEO within zein fibres is a promising route for a novel BEO delivery vehicle for diabetes control.