Water-soluble mucilage extracted from flaxseed has excellent hydrocolloid potential in gel formation; moreover, it can become a product of high technological value in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries because it has high viscosity in aqueous solution. The aim of the current study is to investigate the effect of extraction medium pH on extraction yield and soluble fiber content. In addition, the purification step effect was evaluated through Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Extractions were carried out at 3 different pH values (3.81, 6.75 and 9.69) for 13.25 h at 45 oC. The highest yield was recorded at pH 6.75; the highest soluble fiber content was found at pH 3.81. It was possible seeing that the extraction of flaxseed macromolecules in basic medium (pH 9.69) presented the best quality in comparison to other extractions. The purification step based on precipitation with ethanol did not fully remove impurities from the samples.
Viscum album L., popularly known as mistletoe, is well known for its anti-cancer properties, and the pharmaceutical application of hydroalcoholic dry extracts is still limited due to its low solubility in aqueous media, and physicochemical instability. The Pluronic® F127 is an amphiphilic polymer, which permits the solubilization of lipophilic and hydrophilic compounds. In this investigation, physicochemical features of hydrogel containing V. album dry extract (VADE-loaded-hydrogel) were performed by: dynamic light scattering (DLS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). VADE-loaded-hydrogel presented nanometer-size micelles with volume distribution ranging from 10.58 nm to 246.7 nm, and a polydispersity index of 0.441. The sample thermal analyses (TG and DSC) showed similar decomposition curves; however, the thermal events indicated an increase in thermal stability in relation to the presence of the extract. In addition to these interesting pharmaceutical features, IC50 values of 333.40 µg/mL and >1000 µg/mL were obtained when tumor (SCC-25) and non-tumor (L929) cells were incubated with VADE-loaded-hydrogel, respectively. The optical and ultrastructural cellular analysis confirmed the tumor selectivity since the following alterations were detected only in SCC-25 cells: disorganization of plasmatic membrane; an increase of cytoplasmatic vacuole size; alteration in the cristae mitochondrial shape; and generation of amorphous cellular material. These results emphasize the promising antitumoral potential of VADE-loaded-hydrogel as an herbal drug delivery system via in vitro assays.
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