Study On The Fabrication Of Nanocarriers Using Licorice Protein Isolate

Previous studies have found that a kind of licorice protein GLP isolated from licorice has good self-assembly characteristics and certain loading capacity of active ingredients,but it is difficult to be put into practical application due to the limitations of separation and purification processes.Therefore,in this study,nanoparticles were prepared from the readily available licorice protein extract(licorice protein isolate)and loaded with curcumin.From the aspects of preparation condition optimization,formation mechanism and formation effect,the potential of licorice protein isolate as a carrier raw material for nanoparticles was evaluated under two pathways: heat induction and pH driven.The results of heat induction experiments showed that the licorice protein isolate could form a nearly spherical nanoparticle with an average particle size of 102.60±2.16 nm after heating at 100°C for 60 min,and the nanoparticles were proved to have good pH stability,storage stability and certain temperature responsiveness.However,the maximum loading of curcumin by the nanoparticles was only 6.46±0.11 mg/g protein,and the stability and antioxidant activity of curcumin were not significantly improved.The results of pH-driven experiments showed that three curcumin-loaded licorice protein isolate nanoparticles with average particle sizes in the range of 70-140 nm could be prepared by optimizing the conditions,and the maximum loading of curcumin by these nanoparticles could reach 785.33±5.20 mg/g protein.By polypropylene gel electrophoresis,transmission electron microscopy,X-ray diffractometer and additional chaotropic reagents,it was proved that licorice protein isolate embeds curcumin through hydrophobic action to form amorphous near-spherical nanoparticles.These nanoparticles not only have good pH stability,storage stability and re-dispersibility after lyophilization,but also significantly enhance the stability of curcumin,improve the intracellular and extracellular antioxidant capacity of curcumin and inhibit human hepatoma cell(Hep G2)to varying degrees.In summary,pH driven is a more suitable way to prepare nanoparticle carriers from licorice protein isolate.The results of this study have discovered a high-quality natural material for the development of hydrophobic active ingredients(such as curcumin)nanoparticle delivery system,and provided corresponding technical theoretical support.