Nanophytosome as a promising carrier for improving cumin essential oil properties

The health benefits of nanoparticles in preservation of sensitive compounds such as essential oil (EO) to overcome its application difficulties, e.g., instability, low water solubility, and oral bioavailability. In this study, CEO-loaded nanophytosomes (NP) were prepared using a thin layer hydration technique in different ratios of CEO to phosphatidylcholine (PC). Colloidal properties of NP such as particle size, zeta-potential, polydispersity index (PDI), encapsulation efficiency (EE), CEO-PC ionic interactions, antioxidant activity, turbidity, stability and release behavior were investigated. CEO-NP showed good characteristics, i.e., d<100 nm particle sizes, low size distribution (PDI<0.3), EE>90% and relatively uniform size (unchanged size and turbidity during one month of storage). The zeta-potential changed from +9 mV in the blank (B) NP to -19 mV in encapsulated EO. EO-encapsulated in NP showed a relative constant release pattern. About 88% of free CEO remained stable in simulated gastric fluid at pH 2 while 95% was eliminated during 2.5 h in simulated intestinal fluid at pH 7. However, NP improved the stability of CEO 6.7 times in SIF. This study indicated that the release of bioactive compounds from NP can be efficiently reduced using encapsulation into NP, and offered CEO-loaded NP as an efficient candidate for food and beverage fortification to produce functional foods.

Automated summary

The health benefits of nanoparticles in preserving sensitive compounds like essential oil (EO) have been demonstrated in this study. By encapsulating EO into nanophytosomes (NP), the release of bioactive compounds can be efficiently reduced, making CEO-loaded NP an efficient candidate for fortification in food and beverages.