Chemically modified phytoglycogen: Physicochemical characterizations and applications to encapsulate curcumin

Phytoglycogen (PG), a water-soluble glycogen-like alpha-D-glucan, exists as natural dendritic nanoparticles which are known as a promising solubility enhancer and delivery vehicle for lipophilic compounds. However, the practical applications of PG in food and pharmaceutical fields are limited by their high hydrophilicity and relatively low encapsulation efficiency compared with other delivery systems. The objectives of this work were to chemically modify native PG nanoparticles with hydrophobic groups and to characterize their physicochemical properties, as well as to evaluate the application feasibility of modified PG (mPG) nanoparticles as a carrier for hydrophobic bioactive compounds. The surface hydroxyl groups of PG nanoparticles were capped with various anhydrides, e. g., acetic, valeric, and N-caprylic, to obtain the PG nanoparticles with different hydrophobicity. Successful modification by acyl groups was evidenced by both Fourier-transform infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopies. The mPG nanoparticles exhibited a more compact structure and homogeneous size distribution as revealed by dynamic light scattering measurement and visualized by transmission electron microscope, while their size slightly increased with the chain length of anhydride. Rheological measurement revealed that the viscosity of mPG at low shear rate was increased with the increase of degree of substitution due to the intermolecular hydrophobic association. A novel pH-driven method to load curcumin showed significantly higher encapsulation efficiency and greater antioxidant activity compared with traditional ethanol mediated loading method. Hydrophobic modification of natural dendritic PG nanostructures demonstrates promising potential to develop food-grade nanocarriers for lipophilic bioactive compounds with improved bioactivity.

Automated summary

In this study, native PG nanoparticles were chemically modified to obtain mPG nanoparticles with different hydrophobicity, which showed a more compact structure and homogeneous size distribution. The viscosity of mPG at low shear rate increased with the degree of substitution. A pH-driven loading method for curcumin showed significantly higher encapsulation efficiency and greater antioxidant activity compared to traditional methods. This study demonstrates the potential of hydrophobically modified PG nanostructures as food-grade nanocarriers for lipophilic bioactive compounds with improved bioactivity.