Abstract Alamethicin (ALM) inhibits the growth of bacteria by disrupting their cell membrane. ALM exhibits poor solubility in aqueous medium thus limiting its application. A method is proposed for encapsulation… Click to show full abstract
Abstract Alamethicin (ALM) inhibits the growth of bacteria by disrupting their cell membrane. ALM exhibits poor solubility in aqueous medium thus limiting its application. A method is proposed for encapsulation of ALM with γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD) by forming a complex of higher solubility with thermal and pH stability as confirmed by FT-IR and DSC, thus greatly improving its application in food safety. Molecular dynamics simulation suggested a stable configuration of the complex when hydrophobic residues are inserted into the hydrophobic cavity of γ-CD. Aggregation of the complex was inhibited at higher γ-CD/ALM molar ratio. γ-CD/ALM complex exhibited significant antimicrobial activity against L. monocytogenes with the minimum inhibitory concentration being dependent on γ-CD/ALM molar ratio (>0.429 mg/mL for 1:1; >1.094 mg/mL for 5:1; >2.078 mg/mL for 10:1). Optimum γ-CD/ALM molar ratio for maximum antimicrobial activity is the result of competing effects of higher solubility and shielding of hydrophobic ALM groups by γ-CD.
               
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