Development of cress seed mucilage/PVA nanofibers as a novel carrier for vitamin A delivery

Nowadays carbohydrate nanofibers have distinct advantages in delivery of bioactive components because of their biocompatibility and large specific surface area. In this work encapsulation of vitamin A in different concentrations with cress seed mucilage/poly vinyl alcohol (CSM/PVA) solutions was investigated. The optimum nanofibers had diameters in the range of 90.25-169.95 nm. FTIR analysis of vitamin-loaded nanofibers indicated characteristic peaks of CSM, PVA and vitamin A. The amorphous structure of the nanofibers changed to crystalline form after encapsulation of vitamin A. Thermal stability of vitamin A increased by nanoencapsulation. Release behavior was studied in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids and the release kinetic was evaluated by different mathematical models (i.e. zero order, first order, Higuchi, Ritger and Peppas, Peppas and Sahlin, Hixon-Crowell and Kopcha). The coefficients of Ritger-Peppas, Peppas-Sahlin and Kopcha models were determined which confirmed that diffusion transport was the main mechanism for release of the vitamin A through the nanofibers. The lower release rate of vitamin A in simulated gastric fluids indicated that produced nanofibers were appropriate carriers for increasing stability of food bioactives against acidic conditions. (C) 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.