Wild-Grown Romanian Helleborus purpurascens Approach to Novel Chitosan Phyto-Nanocarriers—Metabolite Profile and Antioxidant Properties

Abstract

The current nanomedicinal approach combines medicinal plants and nanotechnology to create new scaffolds with enhanced bioavailability, biodistribution and controlled release. In an innovative approach to herb encapsulation in nanosized chitosan matrices, wild-grown Romanian Helleborus purpurascens was used to prepare two new chitosan nanocarriers. The first carrier preparation involved the nanoencapsulation of hellebore in chitosan. The second carrier emerged from two distinct stages: hellebore-AgNPs phyto-carrier system succeeded by nanoencapsulation in chitosan. The morphostructural characteristics and thermal behavior of these newly prepared nanocarriers were examined using FT-IR, XRD, DLS, SEM, EDS and thermogravimetric analyses. In addition, the encapsulation yield, encapsulation efficiency and encapsulation contents were investigated. The antioxidant activity was estimated using four in vitro, noncompetitive methods: total phenolic assay; 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay; phosphomolybdate (i.e., total antioxidant capacity); and iron(III)-phenanthroline antioxidant assay. Moreover, this study reports the first low-molecular-weight metabolite profile of wild-grown Romanian Helleborus purpurascens Waldst. & Kit. A total of one hundred and five secondary metabolites were identified in the mass spectra (MS)-positive mode from fourteen secondary metabolite categories (alkaloids, butenolides, bufadienolides, phytoecdysteroids, amino acids and peptides, terpenoids, fatty acids, flavonoids, phenolic acids, sterols, glycosides, carbohydrates, nucleosides and miscellaneous). The collective results suggest the potential application is a promising new antioxidant vehicle candidate in tumor therapeutic strategy.

Romanian Wild-Growing Chelidonium majus—An Emerging Approach to a Potential Antimicrobial Engineering Carrier System Based on AuNPs: In Vitro Investigation and Evaluation

“…The radical scavenging properties of the novel carrier system and herb sample were assessed according to the procedure described in our earlier publication [ 93 ]. The results were used to calculate and obtain the IC 50 (mg/mL).…”

An Innovative Approach to a Potential Neuroprotective Sideritis scardica-Clinoptilolite Phyto-Nanocarrier: In Vitro Investigation and Evaluation

“…The collective results of the antioxidant assays used in this study indicate that the new phyto-nanocarrier prepared has a very high antioxidant activity compared to the plant sample, considering the influence of the reaction parameters (molar ratio, solvent polarity, pH, temperature) such as and the modification of the structural properties (size particles, specific surface, etc.) occurring as a result of the employed experimental procedure [111,112]. Various studies reported that loading the zeolite pores with phytochemicals enhances in vivo biocompatibility and stability, as well as prolonged controlled release [18,19].…”

“…The total antioxidant capacity assay of SZ phyto-nanocarrier and ironwort sample was carried out according to phosphomolybdenum, a procedure described in our earlier publication [111]. The results are presented as µg/mL of ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE).…”