Encapsulation of Tea Polyphenols in Nanoliposomes Prepared with Milk Phospholipids and Their Effect on the Viability of HT-29 Human Carcinoma Cells

Abstract

Liposomes are phospholipid bilayer vesicles often employed to encapsulate bioactive molecules. In spite of their widespread use in cosmetics and pharmaceutics, their application in food systems is still limited. The objective of this study was to determine the ability of liposomal dispersions prepared from milk phospholipids using high-pressure homogenization to encapsulate and deliver a tea polyphenol extract. It was hypothesized that the encapsulation may improve the delivery of the biomolecules to an intestinal cell model. In addition to their physical characterization, the influence of encapsulated tea polyphenols on the viability of adenocarcinoma cell line HT-29 was compared to that of free polyphenols. Encapsulated polyphenols caused a lower extent of growth inhibition compared to free polyphenols, suggesting that liposomes act as loaded reservoirs that slowly release the bioactive compound in the medium. Liposomes were also prepared using soy phospholipids, and their delivery was compared to that of milk phospholipid liposomes. Although both vesicles showed high bioefficacy and delivery of polyphenols, there were differences in their behavior. It was concluded that milk phospholipids could represent an alternative source to soy phospholipids for preparation of liposomes and that the differences in composition and charge may allow us to further fine tune the cellular uptake of the bioactive.