Biocontrol Microneedle Patch: A Promising Agent for Protecting Citrus Fruits from Postharvest Infection
With increasing human awareness of food safety, the replacement of highly toxic pesticides with biocompatible antimicrobials has become a trend. This study proposes a biocontrol microneedle (BMN) to expand the application of the food-grade preservative epsilon-poly-L-lysine (ε-PL) in fruit preservat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Pharmaceutics |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/15/4/1219 |
| _version_ | 1797603883499913216 |
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| author | Ling Jiang Huan Huang Xingyu Shi Jian Wu Juexian Ye Qian Xu Shaobin Fang Chuanbin Wu Rui Luo Chao Lu Daojun Liu |
| author_facet | Ling Jiang Huan Huang Xingyu Shi Jian Wu Juexian Ye Qian Xu Shaobin Fang Chuanbin Wu Rui Luo Chao Lu Daojun Liu |
| author_sort | Ling Jiang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With increasing human awareness of food safety, the replacement of highly toxic pesticides with biocompatible antimicrobials has become a trend. This study proposes a biocontrol microneedle (BMN) to expand the application of the food-grade preservative epsilon-poly-L-lysine (ε-PL) in fruit preservatives by utilizing a dissolving microneedle system. The macromolecular polymer ε-PL not only possesses broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity but also exhibits good mechanical properties. With the addition of a small amount of polyvinyl alcohol, the mechanical strength of the ε-PL-based microneedle patch could be further improved to achieve an enhanced failure force of needles at 1.6 N/needle and induce an approximately 96% insertion rate in citrus fruit pericarps. An ex vivo insertion test revealed that the microneedle tips could be effectively inserted into the citrus fruit pericarp, rapidly dissolve within 3 min, and produce inconspicuous needle holes. Moreover, the high drug loading capacity of BMN was observed to reach approximately 1890 μg/patch, which is essential for enhancing the concentration-dependent antifungal activity of ε-PL. The drug distribution study has confirmed the feasibility of mediating the local diffusion of EPL in the pericarp through BMN. Therefore, BMN has great potential to reduce the incidence of invasive fungal infections in local areas of citrus fruit pericarp. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:38:18Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-79df31d8c2ca4d52b7231b1d75a45c0f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4923 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T04:38:18Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Pharmaceutics |
| spelling | doaj.art-79df31d8c2ca4d52b7231b1d75a45c0f2023-11-17T20:54:25ZengMDPI AGPharmaceutics1999-49232023-04-01154121910.3390/pharmaceutics15041219Biocontrol Microneedle Patch: A Promising Agent for Protecting Citrus Fruits from Postharvest InfectionLing Jiang0Huan Huang1Xingyu Shi2Jian Wu3Juexian Ye4Qian Xu5Shaobin Fang6Chuanbin Wu7Rui Luo8Chao Lu9Daojun Liu10Department of Pharmacy, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, ChinaShantou Central Hospital, Shantou 515041, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, ChinaThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515000, ChinaCollege of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511436, ChinaCollege of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511436, ChinaCollege of Pharmacy, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511436, ChinaDepartment of Pharmacy, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou 515041, ChinaWith increasing human awareness of food safety, the replacement of highly toxic pesticides with biocompatible antimicrobials has become a trend. This study proposes a biocontrol microneedle (BMN) to expand the application of the food-grade preservative epsilon-poly-L-lysine (ε-PL) in fruit preservatives by utilizing a dissolving microneedle system. The macromolecular polymer ε-PL not only possesses broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity but also exhibits good mechanical properties. With the addition of a small amount of polyvinyl alcohol, the mechanical strength of the ε-PL-based microneedle patch could be further improved to achieve an enhanced failure force of needles at 1.6 N/needle and induce an approximately 96% insertion rate in citrus fruit pericarps. An ex vivo insertion test revealed that the microneedle tips could be effectively inserted into the citrus fruit pericarp, rapidly dissolve within 3 min, and produce inconspicuous needle holes. Moreover, the high drug loading capacity of BMN was observed to reach approximately 1890 μg/patch, which is essential for enhancing the concentration-dependent antifungal activity of ε-PL. The drug distribution study has confirmed the feasibility of mediating the local diffusion of EPL in the pericarp through BMN. Therefore, BMN has great potential to reduce the incidence of invasive fungal infections in local areas of citrus fruit pericarp.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/15/4/1219biocontrol microneedle patchantifungal agentε-poly-lysinecitrus fruitpostharvest infection |
| spellingShingle | Ling Jiang Huan Huang Xingyu Shi Jian Wu Juexian Ye Qian Xu Shaobin Fang Chuanbin Wu Rui Luo Chao Lu Daojun Liu Biocontrol Microneedle Patch: A Promising Agent for Protecting Citrus Fruits from Postharvest Infection Pharmaceutics biocontrol microneedle patch antifungal agent ε-poly-lysine citrus fruit postharvest infection |
| title | Biocontrol Microneedle Patch: A Promising Agent for Protecting Citrus Fruits from Postharvest Infection |
| title_full | Biocontrol Microneedle Patch: A Promising Agent for Protecting Citrus Fruits from Postharvest Infection |
| title_fullStr | Biocontrol Microneedle Patch: A Promising Agent for Protecting Citrus Fruits from Postharvest Infection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Biocontrol Microneedle Patch: A Promising Agent for Protecting Citrus Fruits from Postharvest Infection |
| title_short | Biocontrol Microneedle Patch: A Promising Agent for Protecting Citrus Fruits from Postharvest Infection |
| title_sort | biocontrol microneedle patch a promising agent for protecting citrus fruits from postharvest infection |
| topic | biocontrol microneedle patch antifungal agent ε-poly-lysine citrus fruit postharvest infection |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/15/4/1219 |
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