anticancer, antioxidant, and antibacterial effects of nanoemulsion of origanum majorana essential oil

Background and objectives: this study aimed to develop a natural nanoemulsion with antibacterial and anticancer prop- erties.materials and methods: the chemical composition of the origanum majorana essential oil was investigated using gc–ms analysis. besides, the successful loading of the essential oil in the nanoemulsion was confirmed using atr-ftir analysis. moreover, nanoemulsion’s anticancer, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities were investigated.results: terpinen-4-o1 (46.90%) was identified as the major compound in the essential oil. the nanoemulsion with a 149± 5 nm droplet size and zeta potential of -11 ± 1 mv was prepared. the cytotoxic effect of the nanoemulsion againsta-375 human melanoma cells (ic= 139 μg/ml) showed significantly more potency than a-549 human lung cancer cells(ic= 318 μg/ml). interestingly, growth of staphylococcus aureus (gram-positive) and e. coli (gram-negative) bacteriaafter treatment with 4800 μg/ml of nanoemulsion were obtained at 12 ± 2 and 6 ± 1%, respectively. however, the icof nanoemulsion against e. coli (580 μg/ml) was not significantly different (p > 0.05) from s. aureus (611 μg/ml).valueconclusion: a straightforward preparation method, high stability, and multi-biological effects are the main advantages of the prepared nanoemulsion. therefore it could be considered for further investigation in vivo studies or complementary medicine.