Evaluation of an innovative sheep cheese with antioxidant activity enriched with different thyme essential oil lecithin liposomes

The aim of this study was to develop an innovative sheep cheese enriched with Thymus capitatus L. essential oil (EO) nanoincorporated into small homogeneous liposomes. latter were prepared using two types lecithin: one commonly used for liposome production, and the other as dietary supplement. Both EO liposomes, which showed similar physico-chemical characteristics (i.e., size, homogeneity, surface charge), incorporated fresh cheese. These cheeses produced in Sardinia (Italy) analysed 20, 60 180 days after preparation. HS-SPME at 40 80 °C coupled GC-MS/FID method evaluate volatile fraction identify main compounds both A validated HPLC-DAD analysis allowed identification quantification thymol carvacrol, amount dosed 20 highest (9.51–10.10 mg/kg). monoterpenoid phenols antiradical total antioxidant capacity evaluated by FRAP DPPH• assays, decreased linearly (r ≥ 0.93, p ≤ 0.05) maturation increased. Overall results suggested that T. nanoformulations had enhanced activity compared without liposomal EO, up days.