Improvement of bioavailability for resveratrol through encapsulation in zein using electrospraying technique

Resveratrol has proven antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and cardioprotective effects. However, poor water solubility, low bioavailability and UV light sensitivity hinder its usage in food applications. Encapsulation of resveratrol can help to overcome these problems. In this work, encapsulation by electrospraying was adopted, owing to the possibility of obtaining spherical and nano-sized particles at room temperature. This study proved that resveratrol can be efficiently encapsulated with zein without modifying its native form. Size of nanoencapsulated particles obtained ranged from 230 to 330 nm. Nanoencapsulation through electrospraying process yielded 68.49% encapsulation efficiency at 1:50 resveratrol to zein w/w%. Further, nanoencapsulated resveratrol showed better stability and sustained release profiles as compared to the unencapsulated form. Nanoencapsulation with zein protected resveratrol in simulated stomach conditions and released resveratrol in the intestinal condition. Additionally, nanoencapsulated resveratrol showed increased permeability of 1.15 fold in ex-vivo dynamic engineered small intestinal system which in turn relates to improved bioavailability. Prepared nanoparticles can be used for oral administration by incorporation into food products or in tablet form.