Development of polymeric guar gum-coated nano-nutriosomes for improved stability, controlled release, and cellular...

Neohesperidin (NH), a flavanone glycoside with a wide range of biological activity, is limited by its low stability under environmental stress. To address this, guar gum-coated nano-nutriosomes (GG-NH-NS) were designed to improve the physical stability, cellular absorption, and controlled NH release. The physicochemical properties of nano-nutriosomes (NS) were investigated utilizing FTIR, HPLC, DLS, DSC, and TEM, as well as in vitro and antioxidant assessments. Both NH-NS and GG-NH-NS showed outstanding dispersibility (PDI < 0.3) and nanoscale sizes (129.57 and 124.90 nm, respectively), with unilamellar and multicompartment structures. HPLC analysis revealed high encapsulation efficiencies of 96.92% and 97.04%. DSC study showed better thermal stability (154.67-162.00 °C), and FTIR confirmed the effective conjugation of guar gum with NS. GG-NH-NS showed improved stability in storage, oxidative, pH, ionic, and heat environments. Controlled release tests demonstrated that GG-NH-NS preserved around 84.30% of NH in PBS while remaining stable across many food simulants. Antioxidant assays revealed DPPH values of 63.66 and 51.70 μg VCE/mL, and ABTS values of 70.62 and 58.00 μg VCE/mL for NH-NS and GG-NH-NS, respectively. GG-NH-NS's biocompatibility was further proven by increased cellular absorption with no cytotoxicity. Overall, guar gum-coated nano-nutriosomes show promise for effectively stabilizing and delivering NH.