Chitosan Nanoparticles as a Promising Nanomaterial for Encapsulation of Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) Peel Extract as a Natural Source of Antioxidants

Abstract

The encapsulation of pomegranate peel extract (PPE) in chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) is an advantageous strategy to protect sensitive constituents of the extract. This study was aimed to develop PPE-loaded CSNPs and characterize their physical, structural morphology, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. Spherical NPs were successfully synthesized with a mean diameter of 174–898 nm, a zeta potential (ZP) of +3–+36 mV, an encapsulation efficiency (EE) of 26–70%, and a loading capacity (LC) of 14–21% depending on their loaded extract concentrations. Based on these results, CSNPs with chitosan:PPE ratio of 1:0.50 (w/w) exhibited good physical stability (ZP = 27 mV), the highest loading (LC = 20%) and desirable encapsulation efficiency (EE = 51%), and thus, selected as optimally loaded NPs. The FTIR analysis of PPE-CSNPs demonstrated no spectral changes indicating no possible chemical interaction between the PPE and CSNPs, which confirms that the PPE was physically entrapped within NPs. Moreover, FTIR spectra of pure PPE showed specific absorption bands (at 3293–3450 cm−1) attributed to the incidence of phenolic compounds, such as tannic acid, ellagic acid and gallic acid. Total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant analysis of selected CSNPs revealed that the encapsulated NPs had significantly lower TPC and antioxidant activity than those of pure PPE, indicating that CSNPs successfully preserved PPE from rapid release during the measurements. Antibacterial tests indicated that pure PPE and PPE-loaded CSNPs effectively retarded the growth of Gram-positive S. aureus with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.27 and 1.1 mg/mL, respectively. Whereas Gram-negative E. coli, due to its protective cell membrane, was not retarded by pure PPE and PPE-CSNPs at the MIC values tested in this study. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy analysis confirmed the incidence of various phytochemicals, including phenolic compounds, fatty acids, and furfurals, with possible antioxidant or antimicrobial properties. Overall, CSNPs can be regarded as suitable nanomaterials for the protection and controlled delivery of natural antioxidants/antimicrobials, such as PPE in food packaging applications.

Chitosan‐nanocomposites as a food active packaging: Effect of addition of tocopherol and modified montmorillonite

“…Thus, increasing the tensile strength and decreasing the water vapor permeability of the films in which they are used when compared to films with unmodified MMT nanoparticles (Peighambardoust, Zahed-Karkaj, Peighambardoust, Ebrahimi, & Peressini, 2020). This improvement in physicochemical and active properties (antioxidants and antimicrobials) is also observed for other nanometric structures (Dehghani, Peighambardoust, Peighambardoust, Hosseini, & Regenstein, 2019;Fasihnia, Peighambardoust, & Peighambardoust, 2018;Soltanzadeh, Peighambardoust, Ghanbarzadeh, Mohammadi, & Lorenzo, 2021).…”

Chitosan-Based Anti-Oxidation Delivery Nano-Platform: Applications in the Encapsulation of DHA-Enriched Fish Oil

“…CS NPs have been used for loading insulin and also applied in diabetes therapy [ 28 ]. Moreover, several food bioactive ingredients have been encapsulated in CS NPs, including curcumin [ 29 ], flavonoids [ 30 ], lutein [ 31 ], polyphenols [ 32 ], resveratrol [ 33 ], and vitamins (B9, B12, and C) [ 34 ]. Fish oils are rich in ω-3 PUFAs, which are highly prone to oxidation due to their higher content of unsaturated fatty acid undergoing lipid oxidation.…”

Recent advances in biobased and biodegradable polymer nanocomposites, nanoparticles, and natural antioxidants for antibacterial and antioxidant food packaging applications

“…Chitosan nanoparticles (CS NPs) have also been a promising material for encapsulating antioxidant and antimicrobial actives in food packaging (Cui et al, 2020;Soltanzadeh et al, 2021;Song et al, 2021). Yadav et al (2021) recently prepared CS NPs to encapsulate ZnO NPs with antibacterial activity in gallic-acid (gal) films.…”

“…Chitosan nanoparticles (CS NPs) have also been a promising material for encapsulating antioxidant and antimicrobial actives in food packaging (Cui et al., 2020; Soltanzadeh et al., 2021; Song et al., 2021). Yadav et al.…”

“…However, the production of packaging based on natural antioxidants is still a challenge due to the low stability to heat and propensity to photodegradation (Liang et al., 2022). Thus, several alternatives have been presented to improve the stability of these natural compounds, such as nanoencapsulation or incorporation into a suitable polymer matrix (Ozkan et al., 2019; Sani et al., 2021a; Soltanzadeh et al., 2021). Lately, the addition of inorganic NPs and natural antioxidant compounds in biodegradable polymer‐based matrices has been an efficient strategy to potentiate the antibacterial and antioxidant effects in food applications (Jayakumar et al., 2019; Nikolic et al., 2021; Sharma et al., 2020).…”