The effect of sonication on thyme essential oil- containing nano-niosome as nano bio-detergents

Due to antimicrobial properties of plants, lots of attention has been recently paid to the addition of natural ingredients to pharmaceutical, food and healthcare systems. The aim of this study was investigation and synthesis of thyme essential oil - containing nanoparticles as bio-detergents.
Material & Thyme essential oil was extracted and purified using Clevenger apparatus. Then nano-niosomes containing thyme essential oil was prepared by Bangham method using Tween 60, Span 60 and lipid cholesterol. Then, two methods were investigated in order to reduce the particles size (bath and probe sonication). The nanoparticles were characterized in term of release rate, size, zeta potential, morphology, infrared spectra and loading efficiency. The antibacterial properties of the detergent against Staphylococcus aureus were studied in term of the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and inhibition zone.
The results showed a smaller particle size resulted from probe sonication compared to bath sonication. The essential oil loading efficiency of particles prepared by bath sonication was 4.65% higher than the probe sonication method. Type of sonication did not change the zeta potential of nanoparticles. The essential oil was physically encapsulated in the nano-niosome, without changing its properties during encapsulation. The nanoparticle was uniformly disturbed with spherical structure. The results showed a significant anti-bacterial property of the detergents against Staphylococcus aureus (MBC of 15.625 µg/ml).
Bath sonication is economically recommended compared to probe sonication in preparation of nanoparticles. The results of this preliminary study introduce an anti-bacterial herbal detergent which can be more developed in further studies.