Improving the Water Solubility of Hydrophobic Carotenoids Through Association with Phytoglycogen

Phytoglycogen (PG) is a soft, compact, highly branched polysaccharide that is produced as nanoparticles in the kernels of sweet corn. Because it is non-toxic and digestible, it is ideal for applications in human health and nutrition. We have evaluated the effectiveness of PG in improving the solubility of hydrophobic carotenoids, such as astaxanthin (ASX). We developed a method to produce lyophilized powders of ASX associated with PG (ASX-PG) that can be easily redispersed in water, increasing the solubility of ASX by a factor of 10⁹. We used Ultra-Violet visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Surface Plasmon Resonance imaging (SPRi) and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) to explore the nature of the interaction between ASX and native PG, and ASX and PG that was hydrophobically modified with octenyl succinic anhydride (OSA).

Sorting Category: 02.01.47 Biomaterials and Nanotechnology