o:8659 ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF MICROENCAPSULATED AND UNENCAPSULATED EXTRACTS FROM THE UNDERGROUND PARTS OF GENTIANA ASCLEPIADEA L. en Gentiana asclepiadea L. (Gentianaceae), commonly known as willow gentian, is a medicinal plant traditionally used for alleviating gastrointestinal and liver disorders. Owing to its pronounced bitterness, it is also utilized in the food industry, particularly as a flavoring component in liqueurs. This study aimed to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of an extract from the underground parts of G. asclepiadea and to assess the effect of microencapsulation on this property. The extract, obtained under previously optimized ultrasound-assisted extraction conditions (50 min, 65°C, 53% v/v ethanol, 40 mL/g liquid-to-solid ratio), was microencapsulated by spray-drying using 20% whey protein as a carrier. Antimicrobial activity was tested against a panel of enteropathogenic microorganisms (three Gram-positive, four Gram-negative bacterial strains, and one fungal strain). Both extract forms exhibited growth-inhibitory effects against all tested strains. Minimum inhibitory concentrations ranged from 3.13 to 25.0 mg/mL for the unencapsulated extract and from 3.13 to 50.0 mg/mL for the microencapsulated extract. Enterococcus faecalis was the most sensitive strain. The unencapsulated extract showed slight selectivity toward Gram-positive bacteria, whereas the microencapsulated extract exhibited no such selectivity. Microencapsulation enhanced activity against Escherichia coli and Salmonella enteritidis, while in most other cases it reduced antimicrobial activity, though inhibition was still present. Mild antifungal activity against Candida albicans was observed for both extracts, without a fungicidal effect. The obtained results suggest that G. asclepiadea extract possesses antimicrobial potential, and that the microencapsulated form could be a valuable functional ingredient in pharmaceutical and food products. Gentiana asclepiadea L., antimicrobial activity, spray drying, microencapsulation 1552100 978-86-89429-60-2 1552099 10.46793/89429-60.boa 2025-12-09T11:15:08.620Z 44 no 46 Miloš Jovanović Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš 46 Milica Milutinović Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš 46 Suzana Branković Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš 46 Milica Randjelović Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš 46 Bojana Miladinović Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš 46 Nemanja Kitić Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš 46 Nada Ćujić Nikolić Institute for Medicinal Plant Research ''Dr. Josif Pančić'' Belgrade 0000-0002-6736-3637 46 Katarina Šavikin Institute for Medicinal Plant Research ''Dr. Josif Pančić'' Belgrade 0000-0002-2086-9593 46 Tatjana Mihajilov-Krstev Department of Biology and Ecology, Faculty of Sciences and Mathematics, University of Niš 46 Dušanka Kitić Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Niš application/pdf 270428 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:8659 no yes 1 70 92000004 71A10 BOOK OF ABSTRACTS 16th International Symposium "Novel Technologies and Sustainable Development" 43 43 Faculty of Technology, Leskovac 2025