Construction and evaluation of ovalbumin-pullulan nanogels as a potential delivery carrier for curcumin

Preparation of protein/polysaccharide nanocomplexes for delivering environment-sensitive bioactive compounds is significant in the fields of functional foods and pharmaceuticals. In this work, ovalbumin-pullulan (OVA-Pul) nanogels were fabricated through Maillard reaction combined with heat treatment. The results of SDS-PAGE, circular dichroism and conjugation yield (84.96%) confirmed the covalent crosslinking of ovalbumin to pullulan. Dynamic light scattering measurements indicated that nanogels and curcumin-loaded nanogels exhibited small particle diameter at around 190 nm and 160 nm, and excellent polydispersity index at 0.227 and 0.146, respectively. OVA-Pul nanogels showed good encapsulation efficiency (88.38%) and loading capacity (8.78%) for curcumin. Transmission electron microscope observations and in vitro gastrointestinal digestion suggested that OVA-Pul nanogels facilitated the controlled release of curcumin and the spherical structure of curcumin-loaded nanogels was damaged during digestion. Notably, both nanogels and curcumin-loaded nanogels showed desirable storage stability during 30 d. Hence, OVA-Pul nanogels have the potential for effectively delivering nutrients and drugs.

Automated summary

Preparation of ovalbumin-pullulan (OVA-Pul) nanogels through Maillard reaction and heat treatment resulted in small particle diameter, excellent polydispersity index, and high encapsulation efficiency. The nanogels showed controlled release of curcumin and maintained stability during storage and digestion, indicating potential for effective delivery of nutrients and drugs.