Soy Protein/Soy Polysaccharide Complex Nanogels: Folic Acid Loading, Protection, and Controlled Delivery

Abstract

In this study, we developed a facile approach to produce nanogels via self-assembly of folic acid, soy protein, and soy polysaccharide. High-pressure homogenization was introduced to break down the original aggregates of soy protein, which benefits the binding of soy protein with soy polysaccharide and folic acid at pH 4.0. After a heat treatment that causes the soy protein denaturation and gelation, folic acid-loaded soy protein/soy polysaccharide complex nanogels were fabricated. The nanogels have a polysaccharide surface that makes the nanogels dispersible in acidic conditions where folic acid is insoluble and soy protein forms precipitates after heating. More importantly, the protein and polysaccharide can inhibit the reactions between dissolved oxygen and folic acid during UV irradiation. After the preparation and storage of the nanogels in the presence of heat, oxygen, and light in acidic conditions, most of the folic acid molecules in the nanogels remain in their natural structure and can be released rapidly at neutral pH, that is, in the intestine. Because most food and beverages are acidic, the nanogels are a suitable delivery system of folic acid in food and beverages.

Templateless Synthesis of Polyacrylamide-Based Nanogels via RAFT Dispersion Polymerization

“…[1][2][3][4][5] Their distinct properties including permeable structure, high water content, excellent stability, and multiple functionality have attracted broad interest across multidisciplinary areas of nanotechnology and biotechnology. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20] Recently, several sophisticated strategies have been developed to address the challenges for use of nanogels as clinical multifunctional biomaterials. [21][22][23] From a synthetic point of view, nanogels have been prepared either by cross-linking of functionalized responsive ones cannot be used for nanogel synthesis, thus limiting the choice of constituent polymers for nanogels.…”

Biomedical applications of soy protein: A brief overview

“…Furthermore, cell uptake studies indicated that the cellular uptake for FA/SPI nanoparticles was greater than for SPI nanoparticles, particularly, at the end of a 24‐hour period, where uptake was 93% higher compared to SPI nanoparticles . Ding et al prepared nanogels of soy protein/soy polysaccharide as a carrier for folic acid. The nanogels were made by forcing high pressure homogenization for breaking down soy aggregates to bind to the polysaccharide compounds at pH 4 and by then applying heat treatment to enforce soy protein gelation.…”

Self-assembled polysaccharide nanostructures for controlled-release applications

“…Drug delivery nanoparticle systems are being increasingly applied to fields outside of medicine, including delivery of nutrients [14,91,92]. Folate is an essential nutrient that is not produced by the human body and, thus, is a dietary requirement.…”

“…Additionally, heat, oxygen, and light can result in degradation of folic acid during food processing and storage. Ding and Yao [14] prepared folic acid-loaded soy protein/soy polysaccharide nanogels that stabilized folic acid under acidic conditions and released it rapidly at neutral pH (similar to that in the intestine). The protein, polysaccharide, and folic acid were mixed in pH4 water and subjected to high-pressure homogenization.…”

“…Nanoparticles are also more resistant to hepatic filtration than larger particle delivery systems [3]. Because of these unique properties of polymeric nanoparticles, they have been utilized to control the release of macromolecular drugs, proteins, and vaccines [12,13] and in other sustained-release applications [12,14,15]. Polysaccharides and polysaccharide derivatives that self-assemble to form nanoparticles have been studied extensively as carriers for controlled delivery of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) [16].…”