Abstract
Three-dimensional chitosan-gallic acid complexes were proposed and prepared for the first time by a simple adsorption process of gallic acid (GA) on three-dimensional chitosan structures (3D chitosan). Highly porous 3D devices facilitate a high GA load, up to 2015 mmol/kg at pH 4.0. The preservation of the redox state of GA released from 3D chitosan was confirmed by spectroscopic analyses. The antioxidant activity of 3D chitosan-GA complexes was assessed using the DPPH radical scavenging assay and was found to be dramatically higher than that of free chitosan. The mechanical property of 3D chitosan–GA complexes was also evaluated using a compression test. Finally, 3D chitosan–GA complexes showed a significant antimicrobial capacity against E. coli and S. aureus, selected, respectively, as a model strain for Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Our study demonstrated a new, simple, and eco-friendly approach to prepare functional chitosan-based complexes for nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and pharmaceutical applications.
Highlights
The encapsulation of bioactive molecules into biopolymers aims at improving the functional properties of the former via the protective effect of the latter against light, heat, oxygen, and pH, as well as the more efficient transport of bioactives at their target destination
The bioactivity of 3D chitosan-gallic acid (GA) complexes depends on the number of GA molecules adsorbed on the 3D chitosan structures
To find the best experimental conditions that permitted the maximum amount of GA to be adsorbed onto the 3D chitosan matrix, we performed preliminary experiments at various pH by adding 1 mM GA solution to 100 mg 3D chitosan in a final volume of 10 mL
Summary
The encapsulation of bioactive molecules into biopolymers aims at improving the functional properties of the former via the protective effect of the latter against light, heat, oxygen, and pH, as well as the more efficient transport of bioactives at their target destination. The incorporation of actives into biopolymers provides the latter with valuable properties. Most of them are susceptible to degradation processes, are poorly soluble, and have limited bioavailability [1]. The incorporation of plants’ polyphenols into biodegradable biopolymers, on one hand, allows for an improvement of their stability, solubility, and bioavailability [1,2] and on the other, provides the biopolymer with characteristics useful in pharmacological [3], nutraceutical [4,5] and cosmeceutical applications [6,7]
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