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Springer (part of Springer Nature), Food and Bioprocess Technology, 4(7), p. 1149-1159

DOI: 10.1007/s11947-013-1160-2

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Quercetin-loaded lecithin/chitosan nanoparticles for functional food applications

This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.
This paper was not found in any repository, but could be made available legally by the author.

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Abstract

This study aimed at the encapsulation of quercetin into lecithin/chitosan nanoparticles using the electrostatic self-assembly technique, followed by evaluation of their functionality (antioxidant activity) and stability at different environmental conditions. These nanoparticles were characterized in terms of: average size, morphology, zeta potential, encapsulation efficiency, loading, and spectroscopic characteristics. Quercetin has been successfully encapsulated in lecithin/chitosan nanoparticles with an efficiency of 96.13????????0.44 %. Nanoparticles presented a spherical morphology with an average size of 168.58????????20.94 nm and a zeta potential of 56.46????????1.94 mV. Stability studies showed that nanoparticles are stable to temperatures ranging between 5 and 70 ??C and a pH variation from 3.3 to 5.0. Moreover, encapsulated quercetin showed improved antioxidant properties when compared to free-quercetin. Our results suggest that quercetin-loaded lecithin/chitosan nanoparticles can be used in the manufacture of functional foods.