DNA binding peptide CF-14 enhances bactericidal efficacy of eugenol/carvacrol nanoparticles to Escherichia coli

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 429; p. 136861
• Main Authors: Majeed, Usman, Majeed, Hamid, Shafi, Afshan, Liu, Xuehua, Ye, Jianming, Wang, Yuan, Xue, Weiming, Luo, Yane, Yue, Tianli
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15-12-2023
• Subjects: Bactericide; Carvacrol; CF-14 functionalized nanoparticles; CF-14 peptide; Eugenol; Carvacrol; Eugenol; CF-14 peptide; Bactericide; CF-14 functionalized nanoparticles
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136861

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•EU & CAR-CF nanoparticles were bactericidal against E. coli.•Revivable bacteria after antimicrobial exposure could be sorted.•EU and CAR-CF nanoparticles disintegrated E. coli DNA.•EU & CAR-CF nanoparticles showed no interaction with flavorings in orange juice.
To evaluate the bactericidal action of antimicrobial peptide CF-14, Eugenol (EU) and carvacrol (CAR) nanoparticles (NPs) less than 200 nm were surface-modified with CF14, gaining approximately 200 nm of EU-CF and CAR-CF NPs with swollen morphology. EU-CF and CAR-CF NPs were bactericidal to E. coli at dosage of 0.09% and 0.07% (v/v), respectively; while they were just bacteriostatic to Staphylococcus aureus at 0.10% and 0.08% (v/v). Spectral variations in bacterial carbohydrates (1185–900 cm−1), lipids (3000–2800 cm−1) and DNA (1500–1185 cm−1) were obvious as evident from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). A higher percentage of membrane damaged (non-revivable) E. coli than S. aureus was found, which indicated electrostatic interactions between Gram-negative E. coli with cationic CF conjugated NPs leading to DNA disintegration. Interestingly, EU-CF and CAR-CF NPs inhibited E. coli growth in orange juice without impacting flavour compounds.