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Aims: The streptococcal disease has been associated with serious mortality and significant global economic loss in the tilapia farming industry. The overall goal of this work was to test herbal hydrogels based on encapsulated Enterococcus faecium ABRIINW.N7 for potential probiotic anti‐microbial activity against Streptococcus iniae in red hybrid tilapia. Methods and Results: Abnormal behaviour, clinical signs, postinjection survival and histopathology (kidney, liver, eye and brain) were measured. Cumulative mortality of CON+, free cells, ALG and treatments (F1‐F7) was 30, 24, 22, 19, 17, 17, 16, 14, 14 and 12 out of 30 fish and the survival rates for E. faecium ABRIINW.N7 microencapsulated in an alginate‐BS blend with 0·5, 1, 1·5, 2, 2·5 and 3% fenugreek were 43, 43, 47, 53, 53 and 60%, respectively. After the incorporation of fenugreek with the alginate‐BS blend, there was an 8–21% increase in probiotic cell viability. Furthermore, the survival rate for the alginate‐BS blend with 2·5 and 3% fenugreek (F6 and F7) was significantly (P ≤ 0·05) higher than other blends. The highest encapsulation efficiency, viability in gastrointestinal conditions and during storage time and excellent antipathogenicity against S. iniae were observed in alginate‐BS +3% fenugreek formulation (F7). Conclusions: It is recommended that probiotic strains like E. faecium ABRIINW.N7 in combination with local herbal gums, such as BS and fenugreek plus alginate, can be used as a suitable scaffold and an ideal matrix for the encapsulation of probiotics. Significance and Impact of the Study: This study proposes models connecting process parameters, matrix structure and functionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel epoxy nanocomposite composed of epoxidized novolac (ENR), epoxidized polystyrene (EPSt), and nanoclay was fabricated and characterized successfully. For this purpose, the novolac was epoxylated using a substitution nucleophilic reaction between hydroxyl group of novolac and chlorine group of epichlorohydrin. The EPSt was synthesized through the oxidizing of an allylated PSt (All-PSt). A mixture of ENR (70 wt%), EPSt (20 wt%) and Cloisite® 20A (5 wt%) was cured using ethylenediamine (EDA; 5 wt%) to afford a C-ENR-EPSt/clay nanocomposite. The transition electron microscopy (TEM) as well as powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that the fabricated nanocomposite has an exfoliated structure. As the thermal property studies results, the addition of EPSt as well as Cloisite® 20A has synergistic effect on the thermal stability of the ENR resin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]