Abstract
The aim of this study was the encapsulation of ginger essential oil in polymer particles. The chosen method was suspension polymerization of methyl methacrylate. In all cases, the polymerization process in the presence of ginger essential oil leads to decrease of the conversion at similar reaction intervals. The different reactivity of the essential oil components towards the free radicals generated by the thermal decomposition of AIBN was determined using GC/MS headspace analysis. The amount of encapsulated oil was determined by thermogravimetrical and GC analyses. TGA provided less reliable data about the total encapsulated essential oil. However, the extraction and GC analysis of the samples confirmed a higher content of essential oil in sample 2 (0.03 mol/L AIBN), and the lowest in sample 4 (0.09 mol/L AIBN).
Keywords: ginger essential oil; poly(methyl methacrylate); encapsulation; SEM; GC/MS headspace