Preparation and characterization of novel composite nanoparticles using zein and hyaluronic acid for efficient delivery of naringenin

Hyaluronic acid (HA), a polymer mainly found in animal tissues, plays an important role in food research. In this study, it was used for delivery improvement of naringenin (NAR) by loading it into zein nanoparticles using an anti-solvent precipitation method. The optimal Nar/zein-HA nanoparticles were uniformly spherical with par-ticle sizes of 209.2 +/- 1.9 nm, polydispersity indexes of 0.146 +/- 0.032 and zeta-potentials of-19.0 +/- 0.7 mV. Moreover, the microstructure of Nar/zein-HA nanoparticles was maintained primarily by hydrophobic, elec-trostatic, and hydrogen-bonding interactions. Furthermore, Nar/zein-HA nanoparticles showed favorable phys-ical stability and enhanced encapsulation efficiency. Additionally, the antioxidant capacity and release in simulated gastrointestinal digestion of Nar were significantly improved. Overall, these findings indicate that the delivery efficiency of Nar was improved by formulation of ternary nanoparticles.

Automated summary

In this study, hyaluronic acid (HA) was used to improve the delivery efficiency of naringenin (NAR) by loading it into zein nanoparticles. The optimized Nar/zein-HA nanoparticles had uniform spherical shape with desirable particle size, polydispersity index, and zeta-potential. The microstructure of the nanoparticles was maintained by hydrophobic, electrostatic, and hydrogen-bonding interactions. Furthermore, the nanoparticles showed favorable physical stability, enhanced encapsulation efficiency, improved antioxidant capacity, and release in simulated gastrointestinal digestion of Nar.