How scientists are turning thyme into precision medicine

Despite its potential, thyme extract has practical drawbacks that limit how it can be used. It evaporates quickly (a waste of thyme!), which makes storage and precise delivery difficult. In larger amounts, it can also irritate the body, sometimes leading to skin rashes or digestive discomfort.

A New Way to Preserve and Control Thyme Extract

Scientists have identified a way to solve both of these problems by sealing extremely small droplets of thyme extract inside another liquid. This approach allows the extract to be delivered in very small doses while preventing evaporation. Researchers from Tomsk Polytechnic University and Surgut State University in Russia developed this method for creating encapsulated nanodoses of thyme. Their findings were published in Physics of Fluids, by AIP Publishing.

How the Encapsulation Process Works

The process relies on carefully controlled streams of thyme extract, gelatin, sodium alginate -- a commonly used thickening agent in the food industry -- and oil. First, the researchers combined thyme extract with gelatin and pushed this mixture through a tiny chip at the same time as a stream of sodium alginate. Inside the chip, the two liquids flowed together while remaining clearly separated. A stream of oil introduced from a perpendicular direction then broke the combined flow into extremely small droplets, each one fully encapsulated.

Why Precision Nanodosing Matters

The most important outcome of this research is not the specific amount of thyme extract used, but the proof that precise and consistent nanodosing is achievable. Before this approach can be applied in medicine, additional work will be needed to package these nanodoses into oral capsules suitable for pharmaceutical use.

"The system tends to be self-regulating in order to deliver a relatively consistent dose, which is valuable for drug delivery," said author Maxim Piskunov. "At the same time, changing and adjusting the diameter of the microdroplets containing a biologically active substance nanodose is only possible by varying the oil phase flow rate."

Applications Beyond Medicine

The researchers emphasize that the technique is not limited to thyme extract alone. It could also be used for other substances and has potential applications outside pharmaceuticals, including the food industry. Piskunov added that combining this method with machine vision and artificial intelligence could allow real-time monitoring and control of nanodosing.

"We believe that this method can be used to encapsulate various aqueous extracts," said Piskunov. "From our study, no significant limitations have been identified. Moreover, we are currently working on encapsulating a water-alcohol extract with a much higher concentration of biologically active substances."