Trends in Food Science & Technology 90 (2019) 35–46

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Trends in Food Science & Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tifs

Review

Pectin polymers as wall materials for the nano-encapsulation of bioactive T

compounds
Abdur Rehmana, Talha Ahmadb, Rana Muhammad Aadilb, Maria Julia Spottic, Amr M. Bakryd,
Imran Mahmood Khana, Li Zhaoa, Tahreem Riaza, Qunyi Tonga,∗
a
State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Jiangsu Wuxi, 214122, China
b
National Institute of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Food, Nutrition and Home Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, 38000, Pakistan
c
Instituto de Tecnología de Alimentos, Facultad de Ingeniería Química, Universidad Nacional del Litoral, Santa Fe, Argentina
d
College of Food Science and Technology and MOE Key Laboratory of Environment Correlative Dietology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 430070, China

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Background: Pectin has been used as a carrier for the protection and targeted delivery of bioactive compounds
Nano-encapsulation and for increasing their shelf life and stability. Nano-encapsulation process is one of the techniques that has been
Pectin used for the effective protection of bioactive compounds.
Bioactive compounds Scope and approach: This review aims to describe the different sources and characterization of pectin along with
Wall material
various encapsulation methods of different bioactive compounds. Furthermore, the focus is on the application of
nano-encapsulation pectin for the entrapment of bioactive compounds.
Key findings and conclusions: Pectin can be used for nano-encapsulation, where nano-capsules can be formed
through different methods i.e. spray drying, emulsion and through the formation of hydrogel, liposomes, and
nanocomplexes. Moreover, the use of pectin in combination with other compounds such as proteins and lipids
were found to be the most promising wall material for the bioactive compounds.

1. Introduction legislations especially in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical areas

Bioactive compounds (essential oils, vitamin, minerals, poly-
phenols, carotenoids and other compounds) are those substances ob-
tained from fruits, vegetables, oils, legumes, nuts and other plant
sources have good effects on health through cellular activities as well as
physiological activities (Wei & Huang, 2019). Some of these bioactive
compounds have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and
immunomodulatory activities (Li, Bao, & Chen, 2018), and also for the
prevention anti-disease and/or cure of metabolic diseases, urinary tract
infections, coronary heart, stomach ulcers and dental diseases as well as
various forms of cancers (Shishir, Xie, Sun, Zheng, & Chen, 2018). For
the successful incorporation in various food systems, the stability of the
target bioactive compounds is an important parameter. The en-
capsulation technology emerges as a promising technology for
achieving this goal (Canizales et al., 2018).
Encapsulation may be defined as the entrapment of compounds
within an immiscible substance, which can be either solid or liquid
(Canizales et al., 2018). Generally, nano-encapsulated process results in
nanocapsules having size less than 1000 nm (Assadpour & Jafari, 2018),
the size of nanocapsules should be < 100 nm according in different
(Assadpour & Jafari, 2018). Recently, there is an increasing trend re-
garding the use of nano-encapsulation for the protection and delivery of
bioactive compounds because of its benefits such as improved solubi-
lity, bioavailability, and better permeability (Katouzian & Jafari, 2016;
Esfanjani & Jafari, 2016). The different kind of nano-capsules can be
observed in Fig. 1. These nano-capsules consist of a core (also known as
fill or internal phase), which is packed within a wall material (coating,
membrane or shell) of nano-scale range resulting in nanospheres
(Purkayastha & Manhar, 2016). Nanospheres are the matrix systems
that are used for the uniform dispersal of active ingredient. On the
contrary, nanocapsules are vesicular systems where a cavity consisting
of an inner liquid core that is used to encapsulate the active ingredient
and this cavity is surrounded by a polymeric membrane (Jafari, 2017).
Another important nanocarrier is solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) which
are like nanoemulsions however their dispersed phase is solidified in
the oil component. This helps in reducing leakage of encapsulated
bioactive component (Assadpour & Jafari, 2019a).
Food biopolymers, mainly proteins and polysaccharides are used as
wall material in the encapsulation process. Among these biopolymers,
pectin is potential promising encapsulation material, because it has

∗
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: tqyjn@163.com (Q. Tong).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tifs.2019.05.015
Received 27 March 2019; Received in revised form 30 May 2019; Accepted 31 May 2019
Available online 04 June 2019
0924-2244/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
A. Rehman, et al.
Fig. 1. Different kinds of pectin-based nanocarriers. (a) Nanocapsule, (b)
Nanosphere and (c) Solid lipid nanoparticle.
several benefits like being emulsion stabilizer, gelling properties and
binding abilities (Assadpour, Jafari, & Maghsoudlou, 2017; Esfanjani,
Jafari, Assadpoor, & Mohammadi, 2015; Gharehbeglou, Jafari,
Hamishekar, Homayouni, & Mirzaei, 2019a). It is also considered as
safe food ingredient (Colodel, das Graças Bagatin, Tavares, & de
Oliveira Petkowicz, 2017). Besides, depending on methoxylation, pec-
tins have a different hydrophobicity and for example high methoxilated
pectin are highly hydrophocbic and can interact with hydrophobic
molecules. That is why pectin can play a key role in the interaction with
hydrophobic molecules, such as antibiotics of the fluoroquinolone's
family, improving the incorporation of the drug to the matrix and
providing a controlled release profile (Cacicedo et al., 2018). Com-
monly, pectin can be used as wall material to encapsulate the bioactive
compounds through different methods, such as nano spray drying, na-
nocomplex formation, and coacervation (Fathi, Martin, & McClements,
2014). Considering the growing interest in nanotechnology and the
improved benefits of encapsulated bioactive compounds, it is important
to review the properties of the potential wall materials such as pectin to
evaluate their capacity for encapsulating functional ingredients. To the
best of our knowledge, no available review focuses specially on pectin
as wall material for nano-encapsulation. Thus, the aim of this review is
to summarize the ability of pectin as carrier in nano-encapsulation
techniques, with a focus on the applications of pectin for encapsulating
several bioactive compounds.
2. Sources and characterization of pectin
Pectin is universally present in every organ of terrestrial plant in the
meristematic tissue as well as parenchyma. In plant cell, pectin is pre-
sent in cell wall and middle lamella, while the quality and quantity of
pectin could vary between different plant species (Yabe, 2018). Tradi-
tionally, pectin is extracted with hot water (60–100 °C) acidified under
the pH range of 1.5–3 for several hours (Wang et al., 2016a). Different
acids like oxalic acid, citric acid, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and
nitric acid are used for pectin extraction (Roy et al., 2018). But, this is a
time-consuming method with very low efficiency (Wang et al., 2016a).
In order to improve the quality and efficiency of pectin, different
Table 1
Classification and sources of commercial and noncommercial pectin.
Source Natural pectin class (approximately)
Apple Pomace High methoxyl
Citrus peel High methoxyl
Sugar beet pulb High methoxyl
Pomelo peel High methoxyl
Sunflower seed head Low methoxyl
Banana, cranberry, garlic, onion, peach, mango, rapeseed Low methoxyl and High methoxyl
pumpkin, papaya
36
Trends in Food Science & Technology 90 (2019) 35–46
extraction techniques were established like heat refluxing extraction,
solvent extraction through the heating and stirring, microwave, enzy-
matic, ultrasound-assisted extraction and combination of subcritical
water with ultrasound-assisted extraction (Grassino et al., 2016).
Chemically, pectin (methylated ester of polygalacturonic acid)
mainly contains α-D-galacturonic acid residues (Roy et al., 2018).
Pectin is composed of at least 17 different kind of monosaccharide with
D-galacturonic acid as main component followed by the D-galactose and
L-arabinose (Yapo, 2011). The degree of esterification (DE) is an im-
portant term that influences various properties of plant pectin and
could be defined as carboxyl group percentage esterified with methanol
(Hosseini, Khodaiyan, & Yarmand, 2016). Based on DE, there are two
different classes in pectin i.e. high methoxyl pectin (HMP) (more than
50% DE) and low methoxyl pectin (LMP) (less than 50% DE). Moreover,
DE varies according to the source of pectin (Marić et al., 2018).
Commercially, apple pomace and citrus peels are the main source
for the production of pectin (Roy et al., 2018). Also, the large quantities
of wastes generated from citrus fruits processing are particularly the
main source for production of citrus pectin. It is estimated that 25–30%
dry weight of citrus peel is composed of pectin (Dranca & Oroian,
2018). Moreover, sugar beet and sunflower are also sources of great
interest for industries related to pectin extraction. All these sources are
important because of their biomasses availability as well as the phy-
siochemical quality presented by their pectin (Adetunji, Adekunle,
Orsat, & Raghavan., 2017). Additionally, novel sources for pectin ex-
traction like cocoa husks (Mollea, Chiampo, & Conti, 2008), grapefruit
peel (Xu et al., 2014), pomegranate peel (Moorthy, Maran, Muneeswari,
Naganyashree, & Shivamathi, 2015), passion fruit peel (Kulkarni &
Vijayanand, 2010), mango peel (Berardini, Knödler, Schieber, & Carle,
2005), banana peel (Gopi, Kanimozhi, Bhuvaneshwari, Indira, &
Kavitha, 2014), Kiwi fruit pomace (Yuliarti, Goh, Matia-Merino,
Mawson, & Brennan, 2015), pistachio green hulls (Chaharbaghi,
Khodaiyan, & Hosseini, 2017) and tomato waste (Grassino et al., 2016)
has also been reported. Various sources of pectin are given in Table 1.
3. Nano-encapsulation techniques
Generally, nano-encapsulation techniques are more complex than
techniques for achieving microencapsulation. This is mainly because
production of nanoscale capsules is more difficult to achieve.
(Ezhilarasi, Karthik, Chhanwal, & Anandharamakrishnan, 2013). There
are two approaches to design nano-capsules top down and bottom up
approaches. Top down method includes utilization of precise tools,
which allow size reduction and structural shaping for the desired ap-
plication of nanomaterial (Anandharamakrishnan, 2014). On the con-
trary, bottom up approach involves construction of materials by mo-
lecules self-assembly and self-organization, which are affected by
several factors like concentration, temperature, pH and ionic strength
(Anandharamakrishnan, 2014). Coacervation and nanoprecipitation
are examples of bottom up approach while emulsification comes under
top down approach (Ezhilarasi et al., 2013).
content (% dry Reference
weight)
15–20 Lopes da Silva and Rao (2006)
30–35 Lopes da Silva and Rao (2006)
15–30 Peng et al. (2016); Adetunji, Adekunle, Orsat, and
Raghavan (2017)
16–16.7 Roy et al. (2018)
5–25 Miyamoto and Chang (1992); Wiesenborn et al.
(1999)
0.1-28 Adetunji et al. (2017)
 Table 2
Use of pectin as carrier for various bioactive compounds.
A. Rehman, et al.

Nanoencapsulation Wall material Bioactive Components Particle size Major findings Applications References
Techniques

Nanocomplex formation Β-lactogloblin and low Decosahexanoic acid (DHA) 100 nm 5–10% DHA lost during 100 h at 40 °C as compared to Enrichment of clear acid drinks Zimet and Livney (2009)
methoxy pectin 80% loss of unprotected DHA
Nanocomplex formation Protein isolate and beet Anthocyanin Less than 200 nm Not effective improving antioxidant activity and color Natural colorant and nutraceutical Arroyo-Maya and
pectin stability application McClements (2015)
Nanocomplex formation Protein isolate and High Lactoferrin Less than 850 nm Successful encapsulation of lactoferrin Food formulation and pharmaceutical Raei et al. (2017)
methoxyl pectin industry
Whey protein - Limonene
D 100 nm Optimal concentration of WPC (4%) and pectin (1%) Food products like cakes, muffins, Ghasemi et al. (2018)
concentrate (WPC) and result in better nanocomplex formation biscuits, juices.
pectin
Nanoemulsion Whey protein Olive leaf phenolic extract – Stable formation of emulsion with control release of Fortification of food products Muhammadi et al.
concentrate (WPC) and encapsulant (2016a)
pectin
Nanoemulsion Whey protein Olive leaf phenolic extract – Higher antioxidant activity in soybean oil as compared Fortification of food products Muhammadi
concentrate (WPC) and to non-encapsulated phenolics et al. (2016b)
pectin
Nanoemulsion Whey protein Saffron extract (crocin, Less than 100 nm Successful making of nanoparticles with high Food and Pharmaceutical industry Esfajani et al. (2015)
concentrate (WPC) and picrocrocin and saffranal) encapsulation of efficiency
pectin
Nanohydrogel Bovine serum albumin Vitamin C 200–300 nm Observed 65.31% vitamin C encapsulation efficiency Food and Pharmaceutical industry Peng et al. (2016)
and pectin
Nanoemulsion WPC/pectin Folic acid 500 nm Successful encapsulation of folic acid Food fortification and pharmaceutic Assadpour et al. (2017)
industry

37
Nanocomplex formation Zein/sodium caseinate/ Eugenol 140 nm Successful encapsulation of eugenol Agriculture and food industry Veneranda et al. (2018)
Pectin
Lactoferrin/pectin Curcumin 208 nm Successful method for encapsulation of curcumin Food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical Yan et al. (2017)
industries
Nanohydrogel Low density lipoprotein Curcumin Less than 60 nm Successful formation, excellent stability under Food and pharmaceutical industries Zhou et al. (2016)
and pectin simulated gastrointestinal conditions, controlled
release of curcumin
Nanocomplex formation Zein/pectin Curcumin 250 nm Successful encapsulation Food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical Hu et al. (2015)
industry
Sodium caseinate/pectin Curcumin 400 nm Successful encapsulation Food, and pharmaceutical industry Cho et al. (2016)
Nanocomplex formation Chitosan/pectinate Curcumin 206 nm Successful encapsulation, potential for colon-targeted Pharmaceutical industry Alkhader et al. (2017)
delivery system
Nanoemulsion Poly (lactic acid)/pectin Curcumin Less than 115 nm Stable nanoparticle formation, method helpful in Pharmaceutical industry Alippilakkotte and
targeted drug delivery, inhibition of cancer cell growth Sreejith (2018)
Nano spray drying Sodium caseinate/pectin Curcumin 300–330 nm Successful encapsulation, improved properties of Wang et al. (2016c)
solid-lipid particles
Nano spray drying Alginate/pectin Gentamicin 350 nm Successful encapsulation, potential for treatment of De Cicco et al. (2014)
acute, chronic infected wounds
Nanohydrogel LPM and charge Indomethacin Less than 800 nm Successful encapsulation, charge modification of Jung et al. (2013)
modified HPL pectin improves encapsulation efficiency of drugs for
colon targeted drug delivery system
Nanocomplex formation Pectin/Chitosin Doxorubicin hydrochloride Less than 550 nm Higher anticancer activity Ji et al. (2017)
Nanocomplex formation Zein/pectin Resveratrol 235 nm Successful encapsulation Functional foods and beverages, also Huang et al. (2017)
Nanocomplex formation in dietary supplements and
pharmaceutical products.
Sodium caseinate and Rutin Less than 215 nm Sustained release under simulated intestinal Food, pharmaceutics and biomedicine Luo et al. (2015)
pectin conditions, potential for drug and nutrient delivery
Pectin-coated nanoliposome Pectin Vitamin C Less than 130 nm Better stability and skin permeation Food, nutraceutical and pharmaceutical Zhou et al. (2014)
industry
Trends in Food Science & Technology 90 (2019) 35–46
A. Rehman, et al.
Fig. 2. Formation of nanocomplex particles using zein/casein/pectin systems.
Pectin has been used for nano-encapsulation of various bioactive
materials using a wide range of different methods. Table 2 summarizes
the details of pectin as wall material for various bioactive components.
The different techniques along with their applications are discussed
below (Assadpour & Jafari, 2019a):
3.1. Biopolymer-based nano-encapsulation techniques
Biopolymer-based nano-encapsulation techniques are those that
comprise the utilization of biopolymers to form nanoparticles, nano-
spheres, nanocapsules or other type of nanostructures (such as nano-
gels) for encapsulation of bioactive compounds (Jafari, 2017). Pectin
has been widely used for nanocomplex and nano hydrogel formation for
encapsulation of an extensive list of bioactive compounds, as follows:
3.1.1. Nanocomplex formation
The nano-encapsulation system that involves the fabrication of the
nanoparticles, which is based on complex formation between biopoly-
mers mainly use protein and/or polysaccharides (Singh, 2016; Sezer,
Kazak, Öner, & Akbuğa., 2011; Patel, Patel, Yang, & Mitra., 2014).
These complex nanoparticles of biopolymer could be produced by
electrostatic interaction between these biopolymers, for example an-
ionic polysaccharides can interact with net-positive charged proteins (if
the medium has lower pH than their isoelectric point) (Raei, Shahidi,
Farhoodi, Jafari, & Rafe, 2017).
Generally, the bio-polymer complexation is beginning either by the
direct interaction of complexes of protein/polysaccharide or by for-
mation of protein nanoparticles and then adsorption of ionic poly-
saccharide on these nanoparticles (layer-by-layer method) (Jones &
McClements, 2011). The layer-by-layer method is inexpensive, easily
adaptable and does not require any highly advanced equipment (Shishir
et al., 2018). These interactions can be affected by several factors like
ionic strength, pH value, and ratio of biopolymer, order of biopolymer
addition, conformation, concentration and charge density of both
polysaccharide and protein (Raei et al., 2017). Moreover, bioactive
compounds can be entrapped in these complex biopolymers either by
addition in complex biopolymer solution followed by centrifugation
and drying (Raei et al., 2017) or addition of encapsulate in complex
biopolymer solution followed by homogenization using ultrasonic
homogenizer (Ghasemi, Jafari, Assadpour, & Khomeiri, 2017, 2018).
3.1.1.1. Application in bioactive nano-encapsulation. As pectin is a
charged polysaccharide, it can be used for electrostatic complexation
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Trends in Food Science & Technology 90 (2019) 35–46
with proteins. Zimet and Livney (2009) used β-lactoglobulin along with
LMP to produced stable nanocomplex for protecting of decosahexanoic
acid (DHA) (bioactive). This nanocomplex provided good protection
against the degradation of DHA in an accelerated shelf life stress test.
This report revealed that only 5–10% DHA was lost during 100 h (40 °C)
as compared with loss of unprotected DHA (80%). Moreover, in other
study anthocyanin was encapsulated using nanoparticles of protein
isolate, and beet pectin obtained by thermal processing (protein-
polysaccharide mixture) and electrostatic complexation. But, the
researchers found that this nano-encapsulation method was not
effective for improving antioxidant activity and color stability of
anthocyanin (Arroyo-Maya & McClements, 2015). Raei et al. (2017)
had investigated that lactoferrin (important bioactive in baby formulae)
could be entrapped in a biopolymer complexes of whey protein isolate
(WPI) and HMP at ratio of 2:1 (WPI: HMP) having the smallest particle
size at pH 3.5 (Raei et al., 2017).
D -Limonene is an important bioactive (Li & Lu, 2016), and food
flavoring component extracted from citrus peel (Ghasemi et al., 2018).
This bioactive was successfully encapsulated by nanocomplex forma-
tion of whey protein concentrate (WPC) and pectin (Ghasemi et al.,
2018). In that study, the authors investigated three pectin concentra-
tion (0.5, 0.75, 1%), WPC concentration (4, 6, 8%), and pH values (3, 6,
9) and determined the stability of the product. They concluded that the
optimum formulation regarding stability, color and viscosity was ob-
tained with 1% pectin, 4% WPC and pH 3. Such nanocomplexes con-
taining D-Limonene that could be used for different food product like
juices and cakes (Ghasemi et al., 2018).
Ghasemi et al. (2017) were able to fabricate complex biopolymer
nanoparticles by using whey protein-pectin and the authors found that
these nanocomplexes had the ability to encapsulate high amount of
orange peel oil. The smallest particle with the highest stability was
formed at pH 6 with 84% of encapsulation efficiency (Ghasemi et al.
2017).
Eugenol is a natural phenol essential oil, which is obtained from the
cloves and is recognized for its anti-oxidant and strong antimicrobial
characteristics (Veneranda et al., 2018). A study demonstrated that
eugenol can be encapsulated in zein/sodium caseinate/pectin complex
nanoparticles. In this nanoparticle, the zein protein is placed in the core
of the complex structure due to highly hydrophobic nature; while
pectin is in the outmost layer due to its high affinity to water and so-
dium caseinate, which is an amphiphilic protein, forms the middle
layer, connecting the hydrophobic zein and hydrophilic pectin poly-
mers. Fig. 2 shows these nanocomplex particles from zein/casein/
A. Rehman, et al.
pectin (Veneranda et al., 2018).
Curcumin is the main constituent of turmeric and it is responsible
for its therapeutic properties (Malaekeh-Nikouei & Salarbashi, 2018)
like antioxidant capacity, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activity
(Malaekeh-Nikouei & Salarbashi, 2018). It is a bioactive compound
usually used as a model nutrient and drug (Arpagaus, Collenberg, Rütti,
Assadpour, & Jafari; 2018). Yan, Qiu, Wang, and Wu (2017) have used
electrostatic interaction between heat-denatured lactoferrin and pectin
to develop nanoparticles and thus encapsulate curcumin. This fabri-
cated complex showed an encapsulation efficiency of about 85.3% with
13.4% loading capacity. The authors further concluded that this pro-
duced nano-capsules can be used as suitable delivery system for con-
trolled release, with improved solubility and antioxidant capacity of
curcumin.
Hu et al. (2015) used zein/pectin complexation in order to produce
nanoparticles loaded with curcumin, which presented more than 86%
of encapsulation efficiency. The same researchers concluded that na-
noparticle produced by this method can be helpful for curcumin loading
into pharmaceutical products. Recently, sodium caseinate and HMP was
used for fabrication of nanoparticle and resultant electrostatic interac-
tion was found to be stable against various pH (Cho, Jung, Lee, Kwak, &
Hwang, 2016).
Ji et al. (2017) developed a novel hollow nano-capsule with layer-
by-layer method of pectin and chitosan for delivery of doxorubicin
hydrochloride (anticancer drug). These nano-capsules had high loading
capacity and possessed good biocompatibility and were sensitive to pH
(Ji et al. 2017).
Resveratrol is a plant based natural polyphenolic phytoalexin,
which recently gained attention due to its possible helpful effects in-
cluding hepatoprotection, cardio and neuro protection, anti-in-
flammatory activity, anti-aging effect, anti-oxidant, and anti-carcino-
genic activity on human health (Huang et al., 2017). They also used
pectin/zein complex nanoparticles for encapsulating resveratrol. As the
result of this method, nanoparticle production yield was 91.7% with
about 10.2% (w/w) resveratrol content. The resultant encapsulated
resveratrol showed higher anticancer and antioxidant activity as com-
pared to free resveratrol. This study concluded that this resveratrol
loaded biopolymer nanoparticles could be used in pharmaceutical
products, dietary supplements as well as in functional food and bev-
erage (Huang et al., 2017).
3.1.2. Hydrogel (Nanohydrogel)
Hydrogels are hydrophilic three dimensional and cross-linked (ei-
ther chemically or physically) polymeric structure that has the ability to
absorb large amount of water or other biological fluid inside their
network (Abaee, Mohammadian, & Jafari, 2017). Fig. 3 shows a sche-
matic diagram of nanohydrogel. These hydrogels could hold some ab-
sorbed fluid even at severe conditions (i.e. pressure, heat) (de Souza
Simões et al., 2017). Different interactions are responsible for fluid
absorption such as capillary forces, osmosis and molecular interaction
Fig. 3. Schematic diagram of pectin-based nanohydrogel.
39
Trends in Food Science & Technology 90 (2019) 35–46
of polymer/liquid. These interactions are strong enough to exert a
significant effect on structure and dimension of the gel (Slavutsky &
Bertuzzi, 2019). Hydrogels can be formed in the nanoparticle state
(nanohydrogel) (Abaee et al., 2017). Polysaccharides (i.e. pectin) and
proteins are most commonly used polymers for hydrogels preparation
through gelation mechanism (Zhang, Zhang, Chen, Tong, &
McClements, 2015). Hydrogels can be synthesized through different
ways. Some of them includes a one-step procedure i.e. parallel cross-
linking of the multifunctional monomers. The multiple step procedure
involves synthesis of polymer molecules having a reactive group fol-
lowed by their crosslinking (Ahmed, 2015). Hydrogels nanoparticles
can be created by self-assembly through electrostatic interaction be-
tween oppositely charged polymers (Purkayastha & Manhar, 2016). In
nanohydrogel formation methods, water or aqueous phase is usually
gelled by the acidification, addition of multivalent ions or crosslinking
agents or adjustment of temperature (Purkayastha & Manhar, 2016).
Hydrogel particles have ability to encapsulate both lipophilic and hy-
drophilic bioactive compounds (Shishir et al., 2018). They can also
protect against degradation as well as effective in targeted release of the
bioactive compounds (Zhang et al., 2015).
3.1.2.1. Application in bioactive nano-encapsulation. Kwan and Davidov-
Pardo (2018) designed hydrogels of LMP and WPI loaded with
nanoemulsion of flavor oil (orange oil and medium chain triglyceride
oil). These authors found that these soluble filled hydrogels had the
ability to encapsulate flavors and release them under artificial saliva
conditions (in mouth). Moreover, this study concluded that these
hydrogels can be valuable to decrease the added flavor quantity in to
the liquid products (Kwan & Davidov-Pardo, 2018). In a novel method
to encapsulate vitamin C, Peng et al. (2016) used citrus-peel pectin
along with bovine serum albumin to form nanohydrogel via self-
assembly method. They found that vitamin C encapsulation efficiency
was about 65.31%, while the stability of the nanohydrogel system was
73.95% after 10 days of storage. They further concluded that this self-
assembly hydrogel can be applied as potential delivery system for
improving functional agents’ stability and bioavailability.
In another study, low density lipoprotein and pectin was used to
synthesize nanogels, which was used as oral delivery vehicle for cur-
cumin (Zhou, Wang, Hu, & Luo, 2016). As the result, the developed
nanoparticle presented a smooth surface with homogenous size dis-
tribution and produced nanogels enabled controlled release of cur-
cumin.
Modified form of pectin has been also used by different researchers
for producing drug delivery systems. Indomethacin, a drug, was en-
capsulated using commercial LMP and charge modified HMP, which
was used to form nanohydrogel beads (Jung, Arnold, & Wicker, 2013).
The authors found that at different pH conditions, enzymatically
charged modified pectin had better encapsulation efficiency with
minimal release of indomethacin (Jung et al., 2013). Moreover, Takei,
Sato, Ijima, and Kawakami (2010) used oxidized pectin to encapsulate
doxorubicin (anticancer drug) producing hydrogel. They concluded
that oxidized pectin hydrogels have ability to prevent progression of
primary cancer as well as generation of metastatic cancer by releasing
the doxorubicin.
3.2. Lipid-based nano-encapsulation technique
Different lipid-based methods were used for nano-encapsulation of
the bioactive compounds. These lipid-based systems are widely used in
different pharmaceutical and food related industries. In order to en-
capsulate the lipophilic compounds, the addition of emulsifiers is often
required (Jafari, 2017). Some examples are nanoliposomes and na-
noemulsions. The detail of these types of lipid-based nano-encapsula-
tion techniques combined with the use of pectin's are discussed in detail
below:
A. Rehman, et al.
Fig. 4. Schematic diagram of a pectin-based nanoliposome.
3.2.1. Pectin-coated nanoliposomes
Liposomes are spherical structures of a single or two layers, which is
formed by amphiphilic molecules, such as phospholipids, where the
direction of hydrophilic heads is toward the water compartment and
the arrangement of the lipophilic tails toward the center of vesicle
(Canizales et al., 2018). The nanometric version of liposomes is known
as nanoliposomes, which are mostly utilized for encapsulation and
controlled release systems and their diameter is usually below 200 nm
(Jafari & McClements, 2017). The central aqueous cavity of nanolipo-
somes is suitable for the encapsulation of both hydrophobic and hy-
drophilic compounds (Assadpour & Jafari, 2018). Generally, liposomes
are formed based on hydrophobic-hydrophilic interactions that exist
between water molecules and polar lipid compounds (phospholipids)
(Đorđević et al., 2015). Fig. 4 represents simple diagram of a nanoli-
posome. In the formation of liposomes, input of energy causes lipid
molecules arrangement in the form of lipid bilayer vesicles in order to
attain thermodynamic equilibrium in aqueous phase
(Anandharamakrishnan, 2014). The surface area of nanoliposomes is
usually larger than conventional liposomes thus higher energy inputs
are required to produce them (Jafari & McClements, 2017). Various
mechanical and non-mechanical methods are used to produce nanoli-
posomes. The mechanical methods include sonification, extrusion, high
pressure homogenization, colloid mill and microfulidization while non-
mechanical methods involve reversed-phase evaporation, freeze-
drying-rehydration freeze-thawing, depletion of mixed detergent-lipid
micelle and injection method. Additionally, modern methods that have
been used for the preparation of nanoliposomes include supercritical
fluid technology, dual asymmetric centrifugation, membrane contactor
technology, cross-flow filtration technology, dense gas technique and
freeze-drying double method (Rafiee, Nejatian, Daeihamed, & Jafari,
2018). Based on number of lipid bilayer, liposomes are classified into
two different classes. Liposome having single lipid bilayer is known as
unilamellar liposome while multiplelamellar liposomes are composed
of two or more lipid bilayers (Shishir et al., 2018).
However, liposomes applications are hindered by their instability,
which lead to change in particle size distribution, encapsulated com-
pounds leakage and rapid oxidation. Such limitation could be improved
by formation of bio-adhesive and polymeric membranes around the
liposomes (Zhou et al., 2014). The stability of liposomes can be en-
hanced by coating with a suitable protecting biopolymer layer like
pectin (Chun, Choi, Min, & Weiss, 2013). Being biocompatible, biode-
gradable and non-toxic, pectin is suitable candidate as coating layer for
liposomes-based delivery system. Moreover, due to its high charge
density and mucoadhesive properties, pectin may be beneficial to im-
prove the stability and targetability of delivery systems such as lipo-
somes (Haghighi et al., 2018). Pectin coated liposomes showed to have
the ability to stabilize liposomes-based drug delivery system (Zhou
et al., 2014). However, final properties of coated carrier can be
40
Trends in Food Science & Technology 90 (2019) 35–46
influenced by pectin characteristics. LMP has higher negative charge
and shorter chains as compared to HMP. Such properties can affect the
density and thickness of coating layer. It has been observed that pectin
with lower DM, but adequate concentration can produce pectin-coated
liposomes with smaller size and higher stability (Haghighi et al., 2018).
3.2.1.1. Application in bioactive nano-encapsulation. Nanoliposomes
formation was used for encapsulation of Vitamin C aiming to enhance
its stability and skin permeation (Zhou et al., 2014). These researchers
successfully coated the vitamin C liposomes surface with pectin and
found that pectin (especially LMP) could serve as effective transdermal
drug delivery system (Zhou et al., 2014). Haghighi et al. (2018) had
successfully developed the pectin coated nanoliposomes for the
encapsulation of phloridzin (a bioactive polyphenol) and they also
found that pectin coated nanoliposomes shows higher stability and
encapsulation efficiency as compared to bare nanoliposomes. They also
concluded that the developed phloridzin loaded pectonanoliposomes
can be a promising ingredient for the utilization in food as well as
pharmaceutical products (Haghighi et al. 2018).
3.2.2. Emulsification/Nanoemulsion
Emulsification has been used to encapsulate bioactive compounds of
low solubility in aqueous phase (Ezhilarasi et al., 2013), in order to
improve the dispersion of the bioactive compounds in different food
products, which are used for the protection against the interaction with
other constituents, organoleptic properties by improving the bioavail-
ability in different food (Donsì, Sessa, Mediouni, Mgaidi, & Ferrari,
2011). Emulsification use a process that deliver energy, like homo-
genization, ultrasonication, microfluidization, high shear mixing, in
order to convert two immiscible liquids into a mixture where the two
phases are coexisting, one inside the other. Therefore, different types of
emulsions can be created, such as single emulsions (water in oil, W/O,
and oil in water, O/W) and double emulsions (oil in water in oil, O/W/
O and water in oil in water, W/O/W) (Shishir et al., 2018). In case of
double emulsions, W1/O/W2 emulsion contain W1/O droplets dispersed
in external continuous aqueous phase, W2 (Esfanjani et al., 2015). In
such emulsions, the internal water phase (W1) has ability to carry
bioactive functional compounds such as essential oil, mineral, vitamin,
amino acids, polyphenols and colors (Gharehbeglou et al., 2019a).
Double emulsion can be produced using either low or high energy
techniques. Use of homogenizing and sonication devices are included in
high energy methods. Their main advantages are production of small
droplets and homogeneous size distribution (Gharehbeglou, Jafari,
Homayouni, Hamishekar, & Mirzaei, 2019b).
Emulsions are thermodynamically instable being the size of the
droplets a main factor for emulsion stabilization. The smaller the par-
ticle size the more stable the emulsion. The droplet size in nanoemul-
sions range 10–100 nm, which are surrounded by a thin layer of
emulsifier, and are uniformly dispersed in aqueous medium
(Purkayastha & Manhar, 2016). Additionally, emulsification is a sui-
table technique for the encapsulation of both hydrophobic and hydro-
philic compounds (Gumus, Decker, & McClements, 2017; Jia, Dumont,
& Orsat, 2016). Fig. 5 explains a cross-sectional schematic representing
different types of nanoemulsions.
The stability is an important parameter for the evaluation of
emulsions and depends on type, concentration of emulsifiers, viscosity
of continuous phase, size of droplet in dispersed phase and density
difference between dispersed and continuous phase (Gharehbeglou
et al., 2019a). Natural colloids like pectin are used as emulsifiers, while
it is suggested to use also proteins in order to intensify the emulsifying
properties (Tamnak, Mirhosseini, Tan, Ghazali, & Muhammad, 2016).
Such protein-polysaccharide complex resulted in steric hindrance, ab-
sorption of protein in interfacial layer and increased viscosity attributed
to the availability of polysaccharide. Thus, the interaction between
protein and polysaccharide (i.e. pectin) lead complexes formation for
exhibiting a good emulsifying functions (Gharehbeglou et al., 2019a).
A. Rehman, et al.
Fig. 5. Cross-sectional view of different forms of nanoemulsions.
Different potential methods were applied based on the method of
emulsification aiming to improve the process of nano-encapsulation
and final product qualities (Shishir et al., 2018). One of them is
emulsion diffusion method which is a two-step procedure i.e. emulsi-
fication and diffusion step. Emulsification step involve preparation of
both aqueous and organic phases separately followed by emulsion
formation using a mechanical shearing method. The material to be
encapsulated might be present either in organic and/or aqueous phase
which mainly depend upon its polarity. In the diffusion step, water is
added that causes the elimination of organic solvent present in oil phase
and result in separation of oil and biopolymer along with particle size
reduction, precipitation of biopolymer, and in the end formation of
nanocarrier (Fathi et al., 2014).
Another technique used is emulsification-solvent evaporation that is
also a two-step procedure. In the presence of an emulsifier, the material
to be encapsulated, the polymer as well as organic solvent are emulsi-
fied into an aqueous phase. And, the second step involves evaporation
of solvent under decreased pressure aiming to induce polymer pre-
cipitation as nanospheres. This method can produce particles with a
diameter of < 100 nm with a drug loading capacity of about 75–96%
having high stability (Purkayastha & Manhar, 2016).
3.2.2.1. Application in bioactive nano-encapsulation. Mohammadi,
Jafari, Assadpour, and Esfanjani. (2016a) studied the nano-
encapsulation of phenolic extract from olive leaf using multiple
emulsion method (W/O/W) with WPC and pectin as wall materials
and found that the encapsulation efficiency of emulsions (WPC pectin)
was higher than WPC alone. In a similar extended study, Mohammadi,
Jafari, Esfanjani, and Akhavan. (2016b) found that nano-encapsulation
with WPC pectin improved the antioxidant activity due to the improved
controlled release of the bioactive compounds. Another study used WPC
and pectin for producing double layer nano-capsules with folic acid by
using double layer emulsion and spray drying. Authors showed that this
method can be used for controlled delivery of bioactive compounds
(Assadpour et al., 2017).
Gharehbeglou et al. (2019a) prepared a double nanoemulsion (W/
O/W) from WPC-pectin complex to encapsulate gallic acid (a phenolic
acid). They found that emulsion made from this complex had same
resistance as compared to Tween 80 (a synthetic emulsifier) against
creaming as well as sedimentation. Moreover, better stability during
long term storage was achieved using WPC-pectin complex. These re-
searchers concluded that such protein-pectin complex can be a suitable
alternative to stabilize double emulsion loaded with bioactive com-
pounds. Gharehbeglou et al. (2019a) also prepared WPC-pectin based
double nanoemulsion and successfully encapsulated oleuropein which
is a polyphenol present in olive leaf. They achieved droplet size of
41
Trends in Food Science & Technology 90 (2019) 35–46
191 nm and encapsulation efficiency of 91% under optimum conditions
(1.97% Pectin, 8% WPC and pH 6.12).
Saffron is the compound which is used widely in different food and
pharmaceutical industries because of its characteristics like antioxidant
and natural colorant. It contains bioactive components like crocin, pi-
crocrocin, and saffranal (Esfanjani et al., 2015). A study on nano-en-
capsulation of saffron extract using the methods of double-layered
emulsion by using WPC and pectin) and spray drying was studied by
Esfanjani et al. (2015). These authors obtained particles smaller than
100 nm, free of cracks and pores with a high encapsulation efficiency.
Alippilakkotte and Sreejith (2018) developed a curcumin loaded
poly (lactic acid) nano-capsules with the help of emulsification method
aiming at delivery of drug for cancer treatment. This study used pectin
for nano-particle stabilization. They found that stable particles were
formed with high encapsulation efficiency (about 90%), which im-
proved the drug intake by cancer cells because of the sustained drug
releasing.
Burapapadh, Kumpugdee-Vollrath, Chantasart, and Sriamornsak
(2010) formed pectin based nanoemulsions loaded with itraconazole
(an antifungal poorly water-soluble drug). They found that HMP con-
tributed to the good emulsion characteristics and the most stable
emulsion was obtained at 3% pectin (w/w). Moreover, they also con-
cluded that nanoemulsion formed in this study has ability to be for-
mulated as self-emulsifying drug delivery system.
3.3. Special equipment-based nano-encapsulation techniques
The mostly used techniques for the nano-encapsulation of food in-
gredient depends on the formulation, knowledge or some general
equipment like high pressure homogenizer, ultrasonication devices, and
rotor-stator mixers, etc. However, there are some techniques that are
suitable and can only be implemented by using specialized equipment
i.e. nano spray dryer, electrospinning/spraying. These are applied di-
rectly to produce nanoparticles or nanocarriers without any back-
ground formulation (Assadpour & Jafari, 2019a).
3.3.1. Nano spray drying
One of most frequently used encapsulation technique for food pro-
ducts is spray drying (Mahdavi, Jafari, Ghorbani, & Assadpoor, 2014).
For spray drying, encapsulation is achieved by dissolving, emulsifying
or dispersing the core material in a carrier material solution and
afterwards atomizing the mixture in a heated air chamber (Arpagaus,
John, Collenberg, & Rütti, 2017). In the hot air chamber, the solvent is
removed rapidly, and it results in a dried particle consisting of active
ingredients embedded in a wall material of porous nature (Fathi et al.,
2014). Thus, a typical spray dryer is composed of a feed reservoir and
feed pump, an atomizer, heat and drying gas source, drying chamber
and a cyclone (for dried particle separation). For the exit of drying gas,
it also contains exhaust fan and filter (Assadpour & Jafari, 2019b).
However, a conventional spray dryer cannot produce high yield of
nanoparticles with narrow particle size distribution. The major problem
arises while collecting the nanoparticle as these are normally lost with
exhaust air due to inability of cyclone separator to separate them easily
(Assadpour & Jafari, 2019b). Moreover, a common atomizer is unable
to generate these small sized droplets for the conversion of nano-
particles. To collect dried nanoparticles efficiently, it is necessary that
gas flow within the drying chamber should not be turbulent. Hence,
modifications in conventional spray dryer is necessary to produce na-
noscale particles (Arpagaus, Collenberg, Rütti, Assadpour, & Jafari,
2018).
A nano spray dryer is composed of an ultrasonic atomizer based on
vibrating mesh technology, which can produce very small size droplets
with narrow particle-size distribution that emerge from spray cap holes.
Fig. 6a and b briefly elaborate the nano spray drying process. Secondly,
nano spray dryer also consists of a heating gas flow, which moves co-
currently with atomized droplets into the drying chamber. Being
A. Rehman, et al.
Fig. 6a. Schema of a nano spray dryer and its functional principles: Tin, Tout: inlet and outlet drying gas temperature (Arpagaus et al., 2018).
important process parameter, the inlet temperature of this heated gas
could be controlled. Also, in order to prevent any turbulence inside the
drying chamber, the movement of this gas should be controlled within a
laminar range. As third element of nano spray dryer, a high voltage
electric field is present at bottom of drying chamber that is composed of
two electrodes: a circular cathode (present at side walls of drying
chamber and a star-form anode present at center of the chamber). While
moving downward, dried nano-scale particles are charged through
center anode followed by moving of nanoparticles onto the surrounding
cathode for the collection. More than 99% efficiency for separating and
collecting nanoparticles could be achieved by using this technology.
Eventually, drying gas leaves the chamber without carrying any par-
ticle. For the characterization and utilization, dried nanoparticles at the
end of the process are scrapped gently from collector's surface
(Assadpour & Jafari, 2019b).
Because of conversion of liquid into solid, spray drying reduces
water content thus reducing the microbe's proliferation. Moreover, with
carrier materials addition in the feed, labile compounds could be pre-
vented from both oxygen and light, thus enhancing their shelf life
Fig. 6b. Process parameters and formulation variables for a nano spray dryer (Arpagaus et al., 2018).
42
Trends in Food Science & Technology 90 (2019) 35–46
(Canizales et al., 2018). The efficiency of encapsulation and size of the
produced particle depend on factors such as viscosity of particle size
solution, properties of material used, features of spray dryer (like ato-
mizer type) flow rates, humidity and inlet/outlet temperature
(Aghbashlo, Mobli, Madadlou, & Rafiee, 2012; Carneiro, Tonon, Grosso,
& Hubinger, 2013). Other than these methods, emulsion droplet coa-
lescence, salting out and reverse micelle also have ability to be used in
nano-encapsulation procedures (Nallamuthu, Khanum, Fathima, Patil,
& Anand, 2017).
3.3.1.1. Application in bioactive nano-encapsulation. As a process, nano
spray drying has been used to dry preformed particles known as SLNs.
Wang et al. (2016b) use spray drying technique to prepare pectin
coated SLNs that were made of sodium caseinate (protein) and
Compritol ATO 888 (glyceryl behenate). The produced nano spray
dried SLNs powder showed great stability. In a similar study performed
by Wang, Ma, Lei, and Luo (2016c), the feasibility of crosslinking the
polymeric double layer originally made from pectin and sodium
caseinate for the oral delivery of curcumin was investigated. The
A. Rehman, et al.
researchers were successful in making nano spray dried SLNs. The
encapsulation efficiency and the loading capacity were significantly
improved, while the encapsulated curcumin showed good stability and
slow release profile under simulated gastrointestinal conditions.
Additionally, under aqueous conditions, encapsulated curcumin
showed higher antioxidant activity as compared to non-encapsulated
(free form) curcumin (Wang et al., 2016c). De Cicco, Porta, Sansone,
Aquino, and Del Gaudio (2014) used the method of nano spray drying
aiming to produce stable alginate/pectin powders with good
gentamicin (antibacterial drug) content (25%). Upon locally
administrating this drug on wound, this formulation was turned into
a gel. As the result, sustained penetration was achieved and total drug
permeation period of about 3–6 days was obtained (De Cicco et al.,
2014).
3.3.2. Electrospinning and electrospraying
Electrospinning and electrospraying procedures use polymer solu-
tion to acquire nanofibers or nanoparticles under a high potential
electric field (1–30 kV). Because of their common fundamental features,
both are considered as ‘sister’ technologies, but they differ in some
aspects (Bhushani & Anandharamakrishnan, 2014). Electrospinning is
an effective method aiming to produce the nano-scale and/or sub-
micron polymer fiber. The high electric field is applied to continuously
produce droplets of melt polymer or polymer solution into fine fiber
after which deposition on grounded collector occurs (Wen, Zong,
Linhardt, Feng, & Wu, 2017).
Electrospinning technology consists of (i) high voltage power
supply, (ii) a syringe pump with a metal needle, and (iii) grounded
collector that could be plate/rotating drum. The technology of elec-
trospinning includes the use of polymer solution or/and melt polymer,
which is extruded form a droplet by syringe pump. This droplet formed
on needle tip followed by the application of electric field between
needle tip and conductor. Thus, through the application of two elec-
trostatic forces hemispherical surface of droplet is distorted into conical
shape (Tayler cone). An increase in electric field strength resulted an
increase in the accumulation of electric charges on surface of suspended
droplets. When an electric field reaches to a critical value at which a
repulsive force of electrostatic counteracts on the surface tension of the
polymer solution, a jet of polymer (electrically charged) is expelled
from Tayler cone tip and goes towards the collector having an opposite
charge. At the time jet is driven to collector, whipping or bending
motion take place in jet due to excess electrical charges. Ultimately,
elongation of jet and rapid solvent evaporation occurs, and nanofibers
of polymer are deposited on the grounded collector (non-woven mat)
(Wen et al., 2017). For electrospinning, the major problems for a tar-
geted delivery system include fibers, beads and porous structure
(Esfanjani & Jafari, 2016). Moreover, lower throughput is the reason for
limited application of this technique in industries and large-scale pro-
duction (Yang et al., 2017b).
In contrast, electrospraying (electro-hydrodynamic spraying) pro-
cess uses electric field for the generation of fine droplets. This process
involves subjection of a polymeric solution to an electric field during
flowing out from a capillary nozzle maintained at high potential. Upon
achieving critical value by electric field, a jet is formed. Afterwards,
electric field caused deformation and distribution of jet resulting in
droplets (Esfanjani & Jafari, 2016). Although both electrospinning and
electrospraying work on the same basic principle, however, electro-
spraying formed solid polymeric particles instead of fibers (Purkayastha
& Manhar, 2016). The high encapsulation efficiency and the possibility
of process in one-step that are the main features of this technique (Hao
et al., 2013). Moreover, the absence of droplet agglomeration and
coagulation, smaller droplet sizes with a narrow distribution, and easily
control of deposition efficiency and motion of charged droplets
(Esfanjani & Jafari, 2016). Electrospraying could produce smaller par-
ticles as compared to nano spray drying (Pérez-Masiá et al., 2015).
Pectin based formulations can be used for these purposes because of
43
Trends in Food Science & Technology 90 (2019) 35–46
the simple and biocompatible crosslinking process of pectin-based for-
mulations. Moreover, electrospun pectin nanofibers exhibit the special
advantages as they mimic the structure of natural extracellular matrix.
Additionally, non-woven mat of pectin nanofibers shows spatial inter-
connectivity, high porosity, large specific surface area and spatial in-
terconnectivity (Cui et al., 2017a).
3.3.2.1. Application in bioactive nano-encapsulation. Liu, Li, Tomasula,
Sousa, and Liu (2016) produce ultrafine fibers using electrospinning
technique. For this purpose, two polysaccharides, pectin and pullulan
were used to produce food grade ultrafine fibers and fibrous mats. They
show that the produced fibers can carry and retain bioactive compound
by using a probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG as model bioactive
compound. These authors also concluded that such fibrous mats have
potential for food industry (Liu et al. 2016). Another study successfully
prepared pectin (HMP and LMP) based electrospun nanofibers and
made water resistant pectin nanofibers (Cui et al. 2017b). This study
concluded that produced nanofibers could be used in drug delivery.
Alborzi, Lim, and Kakuda (2013) encapsulated the folic acid in an
alginate-pectin-polyethylene oxide electrospun nanofibers, and the en-
capsulated folic acid was preserved at almost 100% when stored in dark
at pH of 3 for almost 41 days mean while the unencapsulated folic acid
was present only at 8% after one day in the same storage conditions.
These authors also concluded that produced crosslinked electrospun
fibers have potential for the utilization of folic acid as a carrier for the
protection in acidic beverages. In addition, other studies were also
successful in fabricating the electrospun nanofibers using pectin and
polyethylene oxide and concluded that these pectin-based nanofibers
have potential to be used for biomedical applications like drug delivery
(Cui et al., 2016, 2017a).
4. Bioactive compounds release from pectin-based nanocarriers
during in vitro/in vivo gastro-intestinal tract (GIT) studies
Pectin is known for being poorly absorbed in upper GIT conditions,
while pectinolytic enzymes produced by colonic microflora help in its
digestion. Thus, pectin gets absorbed entirely in the colon (Shishir
et al., 2018). Neohesperidin is a flavanone glycoside that is commonly
present in citrus fruits, which is known for its diverse biological ac-
tivities (anti-diabetic, anti-cancer, anti-inflammation, anti-allergic,
gastric protection, and neuroprotection) (Shishir et al., 2019). Shishir
et al. (2019) developed nanoliposomes using chitosan and pectin bio-
molecules to facilitate the controlled delivery of neohesperidin in si-
mulated GIT. The size of produced nanocarrier was in the range of
87–225 nm. These authors found that these nanoliposomes controlled
significantly the neohesperidin release and were able to preserve
72–78% of the encapsulated compound in gastrointestinal conditions.
They also concluded that these nanoliposomes were able to enhance the
cellular uptake of the colonic epithelial cells (Shishir et al., 2019).
Hu, Zhang, Ke, Li, and Zhou (2017) successfully encapsulated fla-
vonoids of citrus peel extract by pectin nanoparticles. The citrus fruit
chosen for this purpose was Citrus unshiu also known as Satsuma
Mandarin. They found nine major flavonoids in the peel extract which
were Hesperidin, Narirutin, Didymin, Luteolin Sinensetin, Nobiletin,
3,5,6,7,8,3′,4′-hetamethoxyflavone, Tangeretin, 5-Demethylnobiletin
with hesperidin being the dominant component. The authors found that
73% flavonoids were released in simulated gastric fluid from naked
citrus peel extracts after just 2 h while 78.28% was released from pectin
nanoparticles (Hu et al., 2017), exhibiting the improved bioaccessibility
of these pectin nanoparticles.
Alkhader, Billa, and Roberts (2017) successfully formed complex
nanoparticles based on chitosan-pectinate, which had the ability to
retain the integrity in simulated gastric fluid. They also reported that
curcumin encapsulation efficiency was about 64%. Moreover, such
nanoparticles can be effective in delivering curcumin to the colon for
colorectal cancer treatment (Alkhader et al. 2017). Another study
A. Rehman, et al.
carried out by Luo, Pan, and Zhong (2015) demonstrated the successful
fabrication of complex nanoparticles using sodium caseinate and
pectin. Rutin (as model compound) was encapsulated and complex
nanoparticles showed a limited release of rutin under some gastric
conditions (Luo et al., 2015). Moreover, under simulated intestinal
conditions, sustained release of rutin was observed. These authors
concluded that these nanocomplexes had great potential as natural and
safe carrier for the oral delivery of drugs as well as the nutrients (Luo
et al., 2015). Chang, Wang, Hu, and Luo (2017) were also successful in
the fabrication of sodium/zein pectin/caseinate complex nanoparticles,
in which it was found that the role of pectin was important in stabi-
lizing the complex nanoparticle under some conditions of simulated
gastrointestinal tract (Chang et al., 2017).
A study on nano-encapsulation of vitamin E and vitamin B12 used
the method of double emulsion (W/O/W) and studied the effect of
whey protein-polysaccharide (LMP and k-carageenan) complexes on the
controlled release of these vitamins (Li et al., 2012). It was found that
encapsulation efficiency of vitamin E (66%) was lesser than vitamin B12
(64%). So, this method was able to retard vitamin release in simulated
gastric conditions (Li et al., 2012). Thus, the use of pectin for nano-
encapsulation can be helpful in controlled targeted delivery of bioactive
compound in GIT conditions and increased bio accessibility.
5. Conclusions
Nano-encapsulation is a promising technology to protect bioactive
components and could be suitable for delivering various important
compounds. Different methods have been used for encapsulation pur-
poses such as spray drying and emulsification (single and double
emulsions), nanohydrogel formation, nanofibers, liposomes, among
others. Pectin as carrier (wall material) for nano-encapsulation could be
useful for targeted delivery and protection of bioactive ingredients like
vitamins, saffron, D-limonene. Moreover, it could be useful for control
release rate and targeted delivery of therapeutic agents. It should be
noted that most researchers have focused on use of pectin complex,
usually with proteins, in order to utilize it as wall material. This could
be because of benefit including improved stability and controlled re-
lease rate given by nanocomplex formulations. On the contrary, in-
formation regarding specific components encapsulation is still limited.
Further studies could open ways to properly utilize pectin in nano-en-
capsulation of bioactive compounds.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the International Education School at
Jiangnan University and Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) for fi-
nancial support throughout the study.
Abbreviations
DE Degree of esterification
DHA Decosahexanoic acid
GIT Gastro-intestinal tract
HMP High methoxyl pectin
LMP Low methoxyl pectin
O/W/O Oil in water in oil
O/W Oil in water
SLNs Solid-lipid nanoparticles
Tin Temperature inlet
Tout Temperature outlet
W/O/W Water in oil in water
W/O Water in oil
WPC Whey protein concentrate
WPI Whey protein isolate
44
Trends in Food Science & Technology 90 (2019) 35–46
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