en تخصصي Special Original article Original article <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size:14px;"><span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%"><span style="letter-spacing:-.2pt">Background: </span></span></b><span style="line-height:115%"><span style="letter-spacing:-.2pt">This study aimed to investigate the physicochemical properties, antimicrobial activity, and cytotoxicity of Thyme Essential Oil (TEO) encapsulated by chitosan nanogels.</span></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%">Methods: </span></b><span style="line-height:115%">In this study, chitosan-stearic acid and chitosan-capric acid nanogels were developed in two ratios of chitosan to fatty acid (10: 1 and 10: 3).</span></span><br> <span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">Results: </span></span></b><span style="line-height:115%"><span style="letter-spacing:-.1pt">The results of Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy analysis showed a successful binding of chitosan to capric and stearic acids. Scanning Electron Microscope images revealed that particle formation improved with increase of the ratio of fatty acid to chitosan. The antimicrobial capacity of both encapsulation systems on three species of microorganisms (<i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>, <i>Escherichia coli</i>, and <i>Candida albicans</i>)<i> </i>was studied. A sustained release of curcumin was observed in Simulated Intestine Fluid. The developed nanogels did not have any toxicity on different cell lines. The results also showed that the antimicrobial capacity of TEO encapsulated with chitosan nanogels was higher (<i>p</i><0.05) than the ionic method (use of sodium triphosphate incorporating chitosan).</span></span></span><br> <span style="line-height:115%"><b><span style="line-height:115%">Conclusion: </span></b><span style="line-height:115%">The results have shown that encapsulating TEO in chitosan nanogels is a suitable alternative for synthetic antibiotics in different products.</span></span><br> <br> <span style="line-height:107%"><b><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black">DOI:</span></span></b><span style="line-height:107%"><span style="color:black"> 10.18502/jfqhc.10.3.13646</span></span></span></span></span></div> Thymus Plant, Chitosan, Nanogels, Oils, Volatile 153 162 http://jfqhc.ssu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1644-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 A. Rajaei 0000-0002-2748-3271 No Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Shahrood, Shahrood, Iran D. Salarbashi davoud.salarbashi3@gmail.com 0000-0002-0846-3988 Yes Department of Food Science, Nutrition and Clinical Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Gonabad University of Medical Sciences, Gonabad, Iran, Research Center for Food Hygiene and Safety, School of Public Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences, Yazd, Iran ‪M. Tafaghodi No Nanotechnology Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, Pharmaceutics Department, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Z. Sabeti No Department of Biopathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran, Pharmaceutical Control Department, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran F. Sabbagh No Department of Chemical Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk 28644, Republic of Korea S. Rakhshani No Department of Biopathology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran, Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran H. Kamali No Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran, Targeted Drug Delivery Research Center, Pharmaceutical Technology Institute, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran E. Fahmideh-Rad No Department of Applied Sciences, College of Applied Sciences and Pharmacy, University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Muscat, Oman