---

Nowadays, extensive investigations have been conducted on developing novel biopolymers from biodegradable sources. In the current study, the active packaging film based on sago starch-containing varying concentrations (1, 1.5 and 2 MIC) of Withania Somnifera L. extract were produced. The Minimal Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimal Bactericide Concentration (MBC) of extract were measured. Physicochemical (such as thickness, water absorption capacity (WAC), water solubility (WS), water vapor permeability, Oxygen Permeability (OP) and contact angle (CA)), mechanical (tensile strength, elongation to break and modulus of elasticity) and antioxidant properties of the films were evaluated. The antibacterial activity of the films also was tested against two common food-borne pathogens (Escherichia coli, and Staphylococcus aureus) by the disc diffusion method. The results showed that increasing concentrations of Withania Somnifera L. extract have a significant effect (p <0.05) to increase the amount of thickness, WS, water vapor permeability, OP, and CA, but was not effective on WAC. Withania Somnifera L. extract increased the absorption of color in the visible region, which in turn led to an increasing of the parameters a^* (index color tends toward green) and b^* (index color tends towards yellow) but reduced L^*. An increase in Withania Somnifera L. extract content resulted in a plasticizing effect, reducing the tensile strength and Young’s modulus but a concurrent increase in elongation at break. Sago films containing higher percentages of Withania Somnifera L. extract were effective against all two tested bacterial strains, and these effects were more significant in the case of the gram-positive bacteria. Sago film containing extract showed a good DPPH radical scavenging activity. These results suggest that the developed sago films containing Withania Somnifera L. extract could be used in various food packaging applications.

---

Medicinal plant extracts contain effective compounds such as phenolic, antioxidant and antimicrobial. To extract the extracts from plants, traditional methods such as soxhlet and maceration or new nonthermal technologies such as ultrasound can be used. The type of extraction method affects the quantity and quality of the extract. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of using ultrasound in the aqueous extraction of phenolic and antioxidant compounds of Capparis spinosa leaves and roots. Response surface methodology (RSM) and Box–Behnken design were used to optimize the extraction factors, including extraction time (10, 25, 40 min) and sound intensity (40, 70, 100 %) with aqueous solvent. The results showed sound intensity was more effective factor than time. By increasing of sound intensity and the time of extraction the yield increased. The optimum conditions for extraction of phenolic and antioxidant compounds were as follows: extraction time 36 min and sound intensity 91 percent. Total phenolic content was obtained 21.80 mg/g in leaf and 14.96 mg/g in root and IC₅₀ was obtained 11.75 µg/mg in leaf and 52.17 µg/mg in root.

---

Extracts and essential oils of medicinal plants have many bioactive agents, including phenolic compounds with significant antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Choosing the suitable extraction method affects the quantity and quality of antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of ultrasound waves in extracting phenolic, antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds of Caper fruit. Response surface methodology (RSM) and Box–Behnken design were used to optimize the extraction factors, including extraction time (10, 25, 40 min) and ultrasound intensity (40, 70, 100 %) with ethanolic solvent (70 %). From the results of the tests performed with the response surface methodology, ultrasound intensity was recognized as the most effective factor in extracting phenolic, antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds of Caper fruit and by increasing time and ultrasound intensity, the extraction of these compounds increased. The optimum conditions for extraction of antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds of Caper fruit were determined extraction time 36 minutes and ultrasound intensity 91 percent. In these optimum conditions, the amount of total phenolic contents and IC₅₀ index of ethanolic extracts extracted from Caper fruit were obtained 23.63 mg/g and 45.30 μg/mg, respectively, the optimum amount of minimum inhibitory concentration of coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus were obtained 0.19 and 6.07 mg/ml, respectively, and the optimum amount of minimum batericidal concentration of coagulase positive Staphylococcus aureus was obtained 11.81 mg/ml. Also, the extracts extracted at time 36 minutes and ultrasound intensity 91 percent had the ability to inhibit the activity of Escherichia coli O157: H7 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at concentrations of 25 and 25 mg/ml, respectively, and had the batericidal ability of Bacillus cereus, Escherichia coli O157: H7 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa at concentrations of 25, 50 and 50 mg/ml, respectively.
 

---

The aim of this study was to investigate the antioxidant properties of date seed methanolic extracts of Rabbi variety and evaluating the physicochemical properties of zein nanoparticles loaded with these extracts. Ultrasonic treatment was used to extract methanolic extract from date seed powder and antisolvent precipitation method was used to encapsulate date seed methanolic extracts in amounts of 0.05, 0.1, 0.15 and 0.2 g in zein biopolymer carrier. In this study, the total phenolic content (TPC) and half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) value of date seed extracts of Rabbi variety in 45 min, the temperature of 50⁰C of ultrasonic bath and 70% methanol solvent concentration were obtained respectively 369.47 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE)/g dry weight and 5.08 µg/m1. By increasing the ratio of encapsulated extract in zein carrier from 0.1 to 0.4, the encapsulation efficiency from 85.90 to 95.19% and the size of zein particles loaded with methanolic extracts from 129.95 to 183.30 nm increased and the zeta potential of nanoparticles decreased from +19.15 to +14.48 mV. The size and zeta potential of extract-free zein particles were determined 109.30 nm and +21.96 mV, respectively. The results of ATR-FTIR analysis indicated that with increase the ratio of methanolic extract encapsulated in the zein carrier, the stretching peak of O‒H⋯O bond changed and increased from 3292.85 to 3294.85 cm^-1. In Investigating the FE-SEM images, extract-free zein nanoparticles and zein nanoparticles loaded with date seed extracts had semi-spherical morphology. Overall, the hydrophobic nature of zein carrier caused it to bind with the phenolics of Rabbi date seed extract through non-covalent, van der Waals, hydrogen, and hydrophobic interactions. Therefore, it can be used as a strong carrier for the encapsulation of date seed extracts.