Formulation, Characterization and Effectiveness of Microencapsulated Phytochemicals-derived Essential Oil against Animal-Pathogenic Bacteria: In Vitro and In Silico Studies

This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of microencapsulating plant-derived essential oils (EOs) that are rich in total polyphenolic content (TPC), flavonoid content and antioxidant capacity.Specifically, the microencapsulated garlic essential oil (mGEO) and microencapsulated lemongrass essential oil (mLEO) formulated with black soldier flybased protein (BSF) extract in oil phase solution using spray-drying technique.The results demonstrated the encapsulation process positively influenced the phytochemical characteristics, particle size, zeta potential, and polydispersity index (PDI) of the microcapsules, resulting in an encapsulation efficiency of 84.7 and 20.2%, respectively.The mGEO microcapsules had the highest TPC released in vitro after 24h in simulated rumen pH 5.6 (45.0%) and small intestine pH 7.4 (93.3%) buffers when compared with the mLEO microcapsules, which were 50.0 and 77.8%, respectively.Additionally, the released TPC from EO capsules demonstrated in vitro antimicrobial activity, particularly the mGEO microcapsules, which exhibited the antimicrobial efficacy against animal pathogens, specifically mastitis-causing bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Enterobacter aerogenes, Shigella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus cereus.The result of this investigation indicated that the MIC and MBC values were below 100g/mL, comparable to the concentration of the positive control (e.g., monensin).Moreover, active substance as allicin was predicted and confirmed in terms of bioactive molecule, eco-friendly, in silico pharmacokinetic and toxicological properties.This study suggests that microencapsulation technology of phytochemical-derived EOs has a promising future as feed additive for controlling release and combat animal pathogens.