Issue 29, 2016

Cruciferin coating improves the stability of chitosan nanoparticles at low pH

Abstract

Encapsulation is an emerging technique to improve the solubility, permeability and bioavailability of bioactive compounds. Cruciferin, a major canola protein, has the potential to protect chitosan-based delivery systems under the gastric conditions due to its resistance to gastric digestion. Positively charged spherical nanoparticles with an average size of 165 nm were prepared. Two water-soluble and -insoluble model compounds (brilliant blue and β-carotene) were encapsulated. The characteristic studies of the particles showed that the chitosan-based core was coated by a cruciferin layer mainly through hydrogen bonding based on FTIR, DSC, surface hydrophobicity, dissociating and intrinsic fluorescence studies. The particles did not show toxicity to Caco-2 cells and their cellular uptake was observed using confocal microscopy. Release studies showed that the particles were resistant to simulated gastric and intestinal fluids and released less than 20% of the encapsulated compounds. Our results suggested that the particles are promising carriers for encapsulation of heat, pH and protease-degradable hydrophilic and hydrophobic bioactive compounds.

Graphical abstract: Cruciferin coating improves the stability of chitosan nanoparticles at low pH

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
18 Feb 2016
Accepted
23 May 2016
First published
24 May 2016

J. Mater. Chem. B, 2016,4, 4988-5001

Cruciferin coating improves the stability of chitosan nanoparticles at low pH

A. Akbari and J. Wu, J. Mater. Chem. B, 2016, 4, 4988 DOI: 10.1039/C6TB00415F

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