Bioproducts processing by Sfee: application for liquid and solid Quercetin formulations

Abstract

Quercetin is a member of flavonoids, which is the major group of the polyphenols, and is highly available in various fruits, vegetables and oils. It has an anti-proliferative effect in a wide range of human cancer cell lines, and it is a highly promising active compound against a wide variety of diseases. A major limitation for the clinical application of quercetin is its low bioavailability (lower than 1% in humans), due to its low water solubility, which makes necessary to administrate it in doses, as high as 50 mg/kg. Supercritical fluid technologies are promising alternative in the processing of natural bioactive compounds like quercetin, because upon applying an adequate supercritical medium such as supercritical carbon-dioxide (scCO2), they allow carrying out the encapsulation process at near ambient temperatures and in an inert atmosphere, thus avoiding the thermal degradation or oxidation of the product, and reducing its contamination with organic solvents. The aim of this work is to increase water solubility and hence bioavailability of quercetin, by increasing its specific surface area, precipitating it in sub-micrometric scale, and encapsulating it in biocompatible polymers, such as soy-bean lecithin and a poloxamer (Pluronic L64®). For this, Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Emulsions (SFEE) technology was used to obtain aqueous suspension product, and Particles from Gas Saturated Solutions (PGSS)-drying technology was used, to obtain dry quercetin loaded particles in controlled micrometric range.