Evaluation of stability antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of macromulsion and nanoemulsion of rosemary essential oil

In this study, macroemulsions and nanoemulsions of rosemary essential oil were prepared under different ultrasound treatments (0, 2.5, 5 and 10 min). The stability of macro- and nanoemulsions of rosemary essential oil during one month of storage at 4 °C was determined through particle size measurement by DLS method. The antimicrobial activity of macro- and nanoemulsions of rosemary essential oil was evaluated by two methods of well diffusion and microdilution against four pathogenic bacteria. Also, their antioxidant potential was tested by DPPH free radical scavenging activity. The results showed that with increasing the ultrasound treatment time from 0 to 10 minutes, the emulsion droplets size decreased from 148.04 nm to 98.14 nm. An increase in macroemulsion and nanoemulsions particle size was observed during storage. The results of antimicrobial tests also showed that macro and nanoemulsions of rosemary essential oil had the highest antimicrobial activity against gram-positive bacteria, especially S. aureus. In the antioxidant activity evaluation test, the IC50 index of macro- and nanoemulsions of rosemary essential oil were estimated to be 36.43 and 45.86 g/ml, respectively. Based on the results of this study, the nanoemulsion of rosemary essential oil is suggested as a natural antimicrobial and antioxidant compound for using in foods.