Enhanced protection and bioavailability of Lycium barbarum leaf extract through encapsulation in whey protein isolate and bovine serum albumin nanoparticles

Zhi-Jing Ni; Chun-Bo Liu; Ying Xue; Hao Huang; Yi-Long Ma; Kiran Thakur; Ya-Fang Shang; Mohammad Rizwan Khan; Zhao-Jun Wei

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.141506

Enhanced protection and bioavailability of Lycium barbarum leaf extract through encapsulation in whey protein isolate and bovine serum albumin nanoparticles

Food Chem. 2025 Jan 15;463(Pt 4):141506. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.141506. Epub 2024 Oct 1.

Authors

Zhi-Jing Ni¹, Chun-Bo Liu², Ying Xue², Hao Huang³, Yi-Long Ma⁴, Kiran Thakur⁵, Ya-Fang Shang⁶, Mohammad Rizwan Khan⁷, Zhao-Jun Wei⁸

Affiliations

¹ School of Biological Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan 750021, China. Electronic address: lovebear@vip.163.com.
² School of Biological Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan 750021, China.
³ School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230601, China. Electronic address: 2021171531@mail.hfut.edu.cn.
⁴ School of Biological Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan 750021, China; School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230601, China. Electronic address: yilong.ma@hfut.edu.cn.
⁵ School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230601, China. Electronic address: kumarikiran@hfut.edu.cn.
⁶ School of Biological Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan 750021, China; School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230601, China. Electronic address: yafangshang19@hfut.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia. Electronic address: mrkhan@KSU.EDU.SA.
⁸ School of Biological Science and Engineering, North Minzu University, Yinchuan 750021, China; School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230601, China. Electronic address: zjwei@hfut.edu.cn.

PMID: 39368202
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.141506

Abstract

To improve the stability and bioavailabilityhe of polyphenolics in Lycium barbarum leaf, this study encapsulated L. barbarum leaf extracts (LLE) within whey protein isolate (WPI) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) nanoparticles (NPs) via self-assembly to enhance polyphenol distribution. The physicochemical properties of nanoparticles were characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric (TG), respectively. The nanoparticles also showed good physical stability at various temperatures, different pH and NaCl concentrations. Compared with BSA-LLE NPs, WPI-LLE NPs exhibited strong physical stability with encapsulation efficiency of 70.6 %. The polyphenol nanoparticles demonstrated enhanced stability in the presence of stomach acid during in vitro simulated digestion. Additionally, the nanoparticles enhanced polyphenol stability during simulated gastrointestinal digestion. Following intestinal digestion, compared with LLE, the bioaccessibility of total phenolic increased by 53.67 % (WPI-LLE NPs), with specific enhancement in compounds like kaempferol, rutin, and chlorogenic acid.

Keywords: Digestive properties; Lycium barbarum leaves; Nanoparticle; Phenolic compounds.

MeSH terms

Animals
Biological Availability*
Cattle
Drug Compounding
Lycium* / chemistry
Nanoparticles* / chemistry
Plant Extracts* / chemistry
Plant Leaves* / chemistry
Polyphenols / chemistry
Serum Albumin, Bovine* / chemistry
Whey Proteins* / chemistry
Whey Proteins* / metabolism

Substances

Serum Albumin, Bovine
Whey Proteins
Plant Extracts
Polyphenols