Abstract
Sacha inchi oil is rich in essential and non-essential fatty acids and other types of bioactive agents like tocopherols and polyphenolic compounds, which are very well-known antioxidants. In this study, the encapsulation of sacha inchi oil in alginate (AL) and chitosan (CS) nanoparticles was achieved with the assistance of high-intensity ultrasound. Nanoemulsion is the most effective delivery and high stability system for lipophilic bioactive agents. Chitosan and surfactant concentrations were varied to study their effect on particle formulations. Size, zeta-potential, polydispersity, and stability of particles were determined in time to optimize the preparation conditions. Sacha inchi oil encapsulated in AL-CS nanoparticles showed a higher loading efficiency and stability for short and long periods compared with other vegetable oils such as olive and soybean. Also, because of the types of tocopherols present in sacha inchi oil (γ- and δ-tocopherols), a much higher antioxidant activity (95% of radical reduction in 15 min) was found in comparison with nanocapsules with olive oil, which contain α-tocopherols. The particles showed high efficiency of protein loading at high concentration of bovine serum albumin (BSA) and a low rate of leaching profiles in various testing media like simulated gastric and intestinal fluids with/without enzymes, that is, pepsin 0.1% (w/v) and pancreatin 0.1% (w/v), respectively.
Highlights
Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.), known as Inca peanut, is a native plant found in the Amazon rainforest of Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and other parts of South America [1,2,3,4,5]
We applied sacha inchi oil to obtain bioactive nanoemulsions formulated with two natural polyelectrolytes, AL and CS, and the effects on the particle properties were compared with olive and soybean oils
The encapsulation of bio-active oils into AL-CS particles was evidenced by FT-IR and fluorescence microscopy analyses, and the sacha inchi oil showed a higher rate of encapsulation than other vegetable oils like soy and olive oils
Summary
Sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.), known as Inca peanut, is a native plant found in the Amazon rainforest of Peru, Ecuador, Brazil and other parts of South America [1,2,3,4,5]. Sacha inchi oil contains important macronutrients; bioactive compounds; heat-labile substances; and an unusually high content of essential fatty acids, that is, C18:3 omega-3 (α-Ln, cis, cis,cis-9,12,15-Octadecatrienoic acid; α-linolenic) and C18:2 omega-6. Considering the nutrient composition of sacha inchi oil, it is an optimal candidate to become a natural antioxidant agent for medical and pharmaceutical applications. We employed ultrasound to form oil-in-water (o/w) nanoemulsions using sodium alginate (AL) and chitosan (CS) polymers to achieve stable nanostructured vehicles for medical and food applications. The sacha inchi essential oil was encapsulated to improve the bioactivity of AL-CS nanoparticles like antioxidant activity. Antioxidant activity of AL-CS nanoemulsions containing sacha inchi oil was evaluated by measuring its free radical scavenging capacity
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