A self-assembled amphiphilic polysaccharide-based co-delivery system for egg white derived peptides and curcumin with oral bioavailability enhancement

Co-encapsulation of quercetin and resveratrol: Comparison in different layers of zein-carboxymethyl cellulose nanoparticles

Three nanoparticles were fabricated for the co-delivery of quercetin and resveratrol. Nanoparticles consisted of a zein and carboxymethyl cellulose assembled using antisolvent precipitation/layer-by-layer deposition method. Nanoparticles contained quercetin in the core and resveratrol in the shell, resveratrol in the core and quercetin in the shell or both quercetin and resveratrol in the core. The particle sizes of nanoparticles were 280.4, 214.8, and 181.8 nm, respectively. Zeta-potential was about -50 mV and PDI was about 0.3. The different positions of polyphenol distribution nanoparticles could reduce the competition between the two polyphenols, the encapsulation rate, loading rate and storage stability reached up to 91.7 %, 5.37 % and 97.1 %, respectively. FT-IR showed that hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions were the main driving forces of nanoparticle assembly. XRD showed that two polyphenols were successfully encapsulated in nanoparticles. TGA showed that distributing the nanoparticles in different layers would enhance thermal stability. TEM and SEM showed that polysaccharides attached to the surface of nanoparticles formed a core-shell structure with uniform particle size. All three nanoparticles could release two polyphenols slowly in simulated gastrointestinal digestion, Korsmeyer-Peppas was the most suitable kinetic release model. Therefore, biopolymer-based nanocarriers can be created to enhance the loading, stability, and bioaccessibility of co-encapsulated nutraceuticals.

Oral Synergism of Egg-White-Derived Peptides (EWDP) and Curcumin for Colitis Mitigation via Polysaccharide/Cyclodextrin Metal-Organic Framework-Based Assemblies

Recently, oral deliverable strategies of multiple nutraceuticals for ulcerative colitis (UC) mitigation have attracted increasing attention. This study aimed to fabricate facile oral assemblies loaded with egg-white-derived peptides (EWDP) and curcumin based on carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) and an γ-cyclodextrin metal-organic framework (MOF). Herein, outer CMCS could coassemble with EWDP (both nutraceuticals and building blocks) into cobweb-like fibrils to promote bridging with inner MOF via coordinative noncovalent interactions (hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interaction, and electrostatic interaction). Compared with conventional γ-cyclodextrin/MOF-based composites, the above coassembly could also endow the biocompatible assemblies with superior nanoscale colloidal properties, processing applicability (curcumin storage stability, bioaccessibility, and aqueous solubility), and bioactivity. Moreover, the oral synergism of EWDP and curcumin (initially nonsynergistic) for UC mitigation was achieved by alleviating inflammatory damage and gut microbiota imbalance. Overall, the novel assemblies could be a promising amplifier and platform to facilitate oral formulations of various nutraceuticals for food processing and UC relief.

Coordinated encapsulation by β-cyclodextrin and chitosan derivatives improves the stability of anthocyanins

To improve the stability of anthocyanins (ACNs), ACNs were loaded into dual-encapsulated nanocomposite particles by self-assembly using β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) and two different water-soluble chitosan derivatives, namely, chitosan hydrochloride (CHC) and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMC). The ACN-loaded β-CD-CHC/CMC nanocomplexes with small diameters (333.86 nm) and had a desirable zeta potential (+45.97 mV). Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the ACN-loaded β-CD-CHC/CMC nanocomplexes had a spherical structure. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed that the ACNs in the dual nanocomplexes were encapsulated in the cavity of the β-CD and that the CHC/CMC covered the outer layer of β-CD through noncovalent hydrogen bonding. The ACNs from the dual-encapsulated nanocomplexes improved stability of ACNs under adverse environmental conditions or in a simulated gastrointestinal environment. Further, the nanocomplexes exhibited good storage stability and thermal stability over a wide pH range when added into simulated electrolyte drinks (pH = 3.5) and milk tea (pH = 6.8). This study provides a new option for the preparation of stable ACNs nanocomplexes and expands the applications for ACNs in functional foods.

Co-encapsulation of Egg-White-Derived Peptides (EWDP) and Curcumin within the Polysaccharide-Based Amphiphilic Nanoparticles for Promising Oral Bioavailability Enhancement: Role of EWDP

The comprehensive utilization of food-derived nutraceuticals with different polarities has been extremely restricted by their poor bioavailability and coexistence in a single system. This study aimed to fabricate a self-assembly of amphiphilic nanoparticles (NPs) for the hydrophilic EWDP and hydrophobic curcumin based on the carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) shell and γ-cyclodextrin (γ-CD) core. Notably, EWDP could cooperate with CMCS to yield superior colloidal properties with an excellent curcumin aqueous solubility and co-encapsulation capacity (>10%) for the NPs (pH 2.0-7.0). This phenomenon was mainly ascribed to the additional hydrogen-bonding network and hydrophobic interaction introduced by EWDP. Besides, the overall antioxidant activity, bioaccessibility, gastrointestinal stability, and Caco-2 cell absorption properties were significantly improved in the presence of EWDP (>20% increase). Therefore, EWDP could function as both a potential affinity agent and a nutrition enhancer to expand the co-delivery applications for diverse nutraceuticals with promising oral bioavailability enhancement in food and pharmaceutical areas.

The fabrication, characterization, and application of chitosan-NaOH modified casein nanoparticles and their stabilized long-term stable high internal phase Pickering emulsions

The demand for facile delivery systems from natural biopolymers with long-term storage stability to deliver liposoluble nutraceuticals such as β-carotene (BC) is increasing. In this work, a facile and reliable emulsifier of chitosan (CS)-NaOH-modified casein (CA) nanoparticles (NPs) was fabricated for the stabilization of high internal phase Pickering emulsions (HIPPEs) with versatile stability. Dynamic light scattering, TEM, FTIR, and interface tension results indicated that CS-CA NPs exhibited nanoscale (109-373 nm), positive charge (22-38 mV), pH-response, spherical in shape, assembled spontaneously by non-covalent interactions, and high surface activity. Optical microscopy, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), and rheometer results demonstrated that HIPPEs were emulsified by a dense and compact 3D network between the continuous phase and the interfacial region. Hence, the CS-CA NP-stabilized HIPPEs showed long-term storage stability (over 18 months at ambient temperature) and thermostabilization (1 month at 80 °C). The robust and compact CS-CA NPs dramatically declined the contents of primary and secondary oxidation production in HIPPEs than that by corn oil. Moreover, CS-CA NPs stabilized HIPPEs appreciably enhanced the bioaccessibility (2.56 times) and chemical stability (thermal, UV-light, and storage) of BC. This research evidenced that CS-protein or polysaccharide-CA-based systems could be an encouraging formulation to commercially construct tunable HIPPEs with adorable stability for liposoluble nutraceuticals with enhanced attributes.

Curcumin doped zeolitic imidazolate framework nanoplatform as a multifunctional nanocarrier for tumor chemo/immunotherapy

Curcumin as a hydrophobic polyphenol has great potential for tumor therapy, yet rapid degradation and hydrophobicity severely impair its therapeutic effect in the clinic. Herein, we report a novel strategy...