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Updated: Oct 8, 2025

Transport Properties of Ibuprofen Encapsulated in Cyclodextrin Nanosponge Hydrogels: A Proton HR-MAS NMR Spectroscopy Study
Published on: August 15, 2016
Encapsulating quercetin in cyclodextrin metal-organic frameworks improved its solubility and bioavailability
Zhenjiong Wang1, Yiding Ma2, Ying Jiang3
1College of Food Science and Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Grain Circulation and Safety, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing, People's Republic of China.
Background:
Quercetin (Que) has many pharmacological activities, such as anticancer, antioxidant, cardiovascular protection, antihypertensive and lipid-lowering activities. However, its poor water solubility greatly limits its application in medicine and food. γ-Cyclodextrin metal-organic frameworks (γ-CD-MOFs) are novel porous carriers for loading functional products. In this study, Que was successfully loaded into γ-CD-MOFs, and the new compound (Que-CD-MOFs) was characterised by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and scanning electron microscopy.
Results:
The apparent solubility of Que-CD-MOFs was enhanced by 100-fold compared with that of pure Que. The free radical scavenging ability of the encapsulated Que was significantly improved. The cytotoxicity of Que-CD-MOFs to HK-2 cells was decreased, and their inhibition on HT-29 tumour cells was maintained, as confirmed by CCK-8 assays. Flow cytometry of HT-29 cells showed that Que-CD-MOFs can inhibit G2 phase cells. Based on molecular modelling, Que molecules were preferentially located inside the cavities of γ-CD pairs in γ-CD-MOFs.
Conclusion:
γ-CD-MOFs are promising carriers for bioactive agents in food and pharmaceutical applications. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
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