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Pectin is a natural polysaccharide, having valuable properties that enable its use in many industrial fields. The aim of this work was to study the impact of pectin modification with phenols, on the properties of this biopolymer. Results suggested that the enzymatic grafting of ferulic acid (FA) oxidation products onto the pectin altered its morphological surface and its thermal properties. Moreover, modified pectin showed a less hygroscopic behavior when water activity is less than 0.50 and a higher ability to bound water above 0.5. Additionally, modified pectin became less viscous than the native pectin and presented different calciumdependent gelation behavior. Finally, a significant improvement of the antioxidant properties of pectin after functionalization was observed. As a conclusion, the modification of pectin with phenolic compounds appeared as a promising way to produce a polysaccharide with new properties that could enlarge the field of its potential applications.

The aims of the current study were to prepare chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) and to evaluate its protective role alone or in combination with quercetin (Q) against AFB1-induce cytotoxicity in rats. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into 12 groups and treated orally for 4 weeks as follow: the control group, the group treated with AFB1 (80 μg/kg b.w.) in corn oil, the groups treated with low (140 mg/kg b.w.) or high (280 mg/kg b.w.) dose of CNPs, the group treated with Q (50 mg/kg b.w.), the groups treated with Q plus the low or the high dose of CNPs and the groups treated with AFB1 plus Q and/or CNPs at the two tested doses. The results also revealed that administration of AFB1 resulted in a significant increase in serum cytokines, Procollagen III, Nitric Oxide, lipid peroxidation and DNA fragmentation accompanied with a significant decrease in GPx I and Cu–Zn SOD-mRNA gene expression. Q and/or CNPs at the two tested doses overcome these effects especially in the group treated with the high dose of CNPs plus Q. It could be concluded that CNPs is a promise candidate as drug delivery enhances the protective effect of Q against the cytogenetic effects of AFB1 in high endemic areas.