Journal Of
Polyphenols

Abstract: Abstract Catechin (CTC) is a phenolic active compound with multiple biological activities. However, CTC is relatively unstable, easily oxidized and poorly soluble in water, showing limited bioavailability, which is a challenge for its application in the pharmaceutical and food industry. The purpose of this study was to promote the controlled release of CTC in the simulated gastrointestinal (GI) tract by using biopolymer-coupled nanoliposomes (NL). The nanoliposome was characterized by multifunctional polycrystalline X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The results exhibited that the size of the nanocarrier was in the range of 87-178 nm, the encapsulation efficiency of CTC was 93.5%, and the combination of chitosan (CS) and alginate (ALG) was better than that of monopolymer. In vitro digestion studies showed that ALG-CS-NL significantly controlled the release of CTC by the diffusion, dissolution, and slow release mechanism and retained about 33%-37% of CTC under the GI condition. These results demonstrated that ALG-CS -NL could increase the stability of CTC, which may be important for the development of nutraceutical-enriched functional foods.

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