Combined antimicrobial and aroma finishing treatment for cotton, using micro encapsulated geranium (<i style="">Pelargonium graveolens</i> L’ Herit. ex Ait.) leaves extract

Abstract

The methanolic extract of geranium, <i style="">Pelargonium graveolens </i>L’ Herit. ex Ait. leaves was used to impart antimicrobial and aroma finishing to the cotton fabric. The extract was microencapsulated using two different methods namely coacervation-spray drying and direct spray drying techniques. The results indicated that the direct spray drying method produced smaller capsules with 5 <img src='/image/spc_char/micro.gif' border=0> size in powder form and 12.5 <img src='/image/spc_char/micro.gif' border=0> in aqueous form compared to the 7.5 <img src='/image/spc_char/micro.gif' border=0> and 17.5 <img src='/image/spc_char/micro.gif' border=0> respective capsule sizes produced by coacervation-spray drying method. The microencapsulated geranium leaves extract treated cotton fabrics showed antimicrobial efficacy against both <i style="">Staphylococcus aureus</i> and <i style="">Escherichia coli</i>. However, the Gram positive <i style="">Staphylococcus aureus</i> was more susceptible to geranium extract compared to <i style="">Escherichia coli</i>. The microcapsule treated fabric retained 50-60% aroma after 10 washes compared to the nil retention property of pure geranium extract treated fabric.