Biopolymer nanoparticles for vehiculization and photochemical stability preservation of retinol

Abstract

This paper gives experimental information about the production of biopolymer nanoparticles (BNPs) for vehiculization and photochemical preservation of retinol (RET). BNPs production involved the combination of two biopolymer functional properties: (i) protein ability for binding RET, in order to form protein-RET nanocomplexes, and (ii) polysaccharide deposition onto the protein-RET nanocomplexes surface so as to obtain BNPs. A particular set of biopolymer materials was employed: native ovalbumin (OVA), OVA nanosized aggregate (OVAn) and high methoxyl pectin (HMP). Absorbance, particle size distribution and z potential measurements, suggested OVA aggregation mainly influenced the production of colloidal stable BNPs. At protein:HMP ratio (RProt:HMP) 2:1, the most appropriated pH values for obtaining BNPs were: 4.0 for OVA-HMP system, and 6.0 for OVAn-HMP system. RET photochemical decomposition in BNPS was examined over 30 h. It was observed that HMP deposition on protein-RET nanocomplex surface improved the RET photochemical stability. OVAn-RET-HMP nanoparticle formed at pH 6.0 promoted a lower RET photochemical decomposition (14.1 %) in comparison with the one registered for OVA-RET-HMP nanoparticle formed at pH 4.0 (25.0 %). Because of denatured/aggregated state, the OVAn particular features to bind RET and to interact with HMP could explain the observed BNPs performance. Information derived from this work could be extrapolated for vehiculization and protection of other photosensitive lipophilic compounds.