Quercetin nanosuspensions produced by high-pressure homogenization

Area of Science:

• Food Science
• Materials Science
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Quercetin possesses antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticancer properties.
• Poor water solubility and oral bioavailability limit quercetin's therapeutic applications.
• Novel processing methods are needed to enhance quercetin's solubility and bioavailability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To enhance the water solubility and bioavailability of quercetin using high-pressure homogenization (HPH).
• To investigate the physical and chemical changes in quercetin after HPH treatment.
• To evaluate the antioxidant activity of HPH-treated quercetin powders.

Main Methods:

• High-pressure homogenization (HPH) was applied to quercetin crystals.
• Particle size, crystallinity (differential scanning calorimetry), surface morphology (atomic force microscopy, scanning electron microscopy) were analyzed.
• Spray-drying with maltodextrin as a carrier agent was used to create redispersible powders.

Main Results:

• HPH treatment reduced quercetin particle size to the nanometric range (~400 nm) and decreased crystallinity.
• HPH-treated quercetin, combined with spray-drying and maltodextrin, formed easily water redispersible powders.
• These powders exhibited significantly higher antioxidant activities (radical scavenging, reducing ability, oxygen radical absorbance capacity) compared to untreated samples.

Conclusions:

• HPH effectively enhances quercetin's water solubility and dispersibility by reducing particle size and crystallinity.
• The combination of HPH and spray-drying is a promising method for developing functional quercetin-based food products.
• Improved solubility and dispersibility correlate with enhanced antioxidant efficacy.