Garlic contains various polyphenolic compounds such as anthocyanin, a bioactive, water-soluble compound generally known for its remarkable health-enhancing properties. However, it is chemically unstable and easily degrades due to various environmental conditions (temperature, pH, presence of oxygen and light, etc.) in addition to its low bioavailability due to fast metabolization and low absorption in the body. Therefore, a nanoencapsulation strategy is essential to address these limitations. In this work, anthocyanin extraction from FBG (Ilocos variety) with 85% acidified ethanol and its encapsulation using the chitosan-alginate nanoparticle system via pre-gelation and polyelectrolyte complex formation were demonstrated. Anthocyanin-loaded chitosan-alginate nanocapsules were characterized in terms of structural features, particle size, morphology, encapsulation efficiency, total phenolic content (TPC), and radical scavenging activity of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). The obtained anthocyanin-loaded nanocapsules have small particle sizes ranging from 50.7 nm to 92.0 nm with high encapsulation efficiency (T3: 78.82%, T2: 68.18%, T1: 65.77%). Results showed that a higher initial concentration of anthocyanin extract promotes higher encapsulation efficiency. Antioxidant activity of the nanocapsules showed low phenolic content (0.11 mg GAE/g) but high DPPH scavenging activity (14.02 mg AAE/g). The chitosan-alginate complex has successfully encapsulated the anthocyanin from fermented black garlic.

Sea urchin zinc oxide (SU-ZnO) nanostructures were successfully synthesized using the sol-gel method and characterized by various analytical techniques. The present work reports a facile and straightforward route for synthesizing sea urchin ZnO nanostructures consisted of self-assembled ZnO nanorods with sharp tips yielding the sea urchin-like shape. The SU-ZnO nanostructures were characterized using Scanning electron microscopy and Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, particle size analysis (dynamic light scattering technique), and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy. The result of energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy shows that the SU-ZnO nanostructure contains 77.30% zinc and 22.70% oxygen content. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the synthesized ZnO exhibits a sea urchin-like structure with a homogeneous and consistent size. FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the structural features and functional groups that are present in ZnO nanostructures. The particle size analysis shows that the synthesized SU-ZnO nanostructures have an average particle size of 812.62 ± 55.92 nm. The growth of SU-ZnO nanostructure was also investigated by recording the UV-Vis absorption spectra at different reaction times.