负载姜黄素的玉米醇溶蛋白-羧甲基壳聚糖纳米复合物的制备表征、体外消化及其抗氧化活性

Preparation, Characterization, in Vitro Digestion, and Antioxidant Activity of Curcumin-loaded Zein-carboxymethyl Chitosan Nanocomplexes

摘要:

该研究利用玉米醇溶蛋白（Zein）和羧甲基壳聚糖（Carboxymethylchitosan，CMCS），通过反溶剂法制备了负载姜黄素（Curcumin，CUR）的纳米复合物，以粒径、电位、包封率和多分散系数（PDI）等为指标优化了Zein/CMCS-CUR纳米复合物的制备条件。当Zein/CMCS与CUR的质量比为10:1时制备的纳米复合物粒径较小（95.37 nm），其Zeta电位为-21.70 mV，包封率和负载量分别为96.63%和4.55%。采用傅里叶变换红外（FT-IR）、差示扫描量热法（DSC）和X射线衍射（XRD）探讨了Zein、CMCS和CUR之间的相互作用，利用透射电镜（TEM）、扫描电镜（SEM）观察了纳米复合物的微观形貌，结果表明氢键、静电和疏水相互作用是组装该纳米复合物的驱动力。姜黄素以非晶体状态成功包埋在Zein/CMCS复合物中，Zein/CMCS-CUR纳米复合物呈球形，且分布均匀。体外抗氧化和消化实验表明经纳米复合物包载后姜黄素仍然具有较强的抗氧化活性，并呈现明显缓释特性。该研究可以为姜黄素在功能性食品领域的应用提供了重要的理论基础。

Abstract:

Zein and carboxymethylchitosan (CMCS) were used to prepare curcumin (CUR)-loaded nanocomplexes with the anti-solvent method. The preparation conditions of zein/CMCS-CUR nanocomplexes were optimized based on the indicators of particle size, potential, encapsulation efficiency, and polydispersity index (PDI). When the mass ratio of zein/CMCS to CUR was 10:1, the prepared nanocomplexes showed a relatively small particle size (95.37 nm), zeta potential of -21.70 mV, encapsulation efficiency of 96.63%, and loading capacity of 4.55%. The interactions among zein, CMCS, and CUR were explored through Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and X-ray diffractometry (XRD), and the micromorphology of nanocomposites was observed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FT-IR showed that hydrogen bonding and electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions were the major driving forces for the assembly of nanocomplexes. DSC and XRD showed that curcumin was successfully embedded in the zein/CMCS complex in an amorphous state. Moreover, SEM and TEM images showed that the zein/CMCS-CUR nanocomplexes were spherical and evenly distributed. In vitro antioxidant assay revealed that curcumin continued to exhibit potent antioxidant activity following encapsulation in the nanocomplexes, and in vitro digestion experiments demonstrated that sustained release of curcumin was achieved. This study can serve as a valuable reference for the application of curcumin in the field of functional foods.