Team develops an intelligent nanodevice based on a component of cinnamon essential oil as an antimicrobial agent

A team of researchers from the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) and the CIBER de Bioingeniería, Biomaterials y Nanomedicine (CIBER-BBN) has developed an intelligent "nanokiller" based on a component of cinnamon essential oil (cinnamaldehyde) for use as an antimicrobial agent.

So far, the new nanodevice has shown significant efficacy against pathogenic microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans. It could be applied for the elimination of pathogens that may be present in food, wastewater and in the treatment of nosocomial infections, which are those acquired during hospital stays.

According to the team of the IDM-CIBER NanoSens group, applying this nanokiller would be very simple. "For example, we could create a spray, make a formulation based on water and other compounds, and apply it directly. We could make a water-based formulation in the field and spray it directly, like any pesticide today. And in hospitals, it could be applied on bandages, and we could even try to make a capsule that could be taken orally," explains Andrea Bernardos, a researcher in the NanoSens group at the Inter-University Institute for Molecular Recognition Research and Technological Development (IDM).

The new nanodevice improves the efficacy of encapsulated cinnamaldehyde compared to the free compound: about 52-fold for Escherichia coli, about 60-fold for Staphylococcus aureus, and about 7-fold for Candida albicans.

Image source: Morellá-Aucejo et al. (2024), Biomaterials Advances.