Encapsulation of Vitamin D<sub>3</sub> into β-Glucan Matrix Using the Supercritical Carbon Dioxide
Asir Gani, Zanoor ul Ashraf, Asima Sajad Shah, Nairah Noor, Adil Gani
Abstract
In this work, vitamin D3 was nanoencapsulated into the β-glucan matrix (Glu-VD3) using innovative green technology (supercritical carbon dioxide). Glu-VD3 was characterized using dynamic light scattering (DLS) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The particle size of the Glu-VD3 capsule was in the range 85–110 nm. FTIR revealed the interactions between the vitamin D3 (VD3) and chemical groups of β-glucan, indicating the successful entrapment of VD3 in the β-glucan. The encapsulation efficiency of VD3 was 88.31 ± 24%. Further, vitamin D3 loaded in the β-glucan matrix showed a controlled release behavior with increased antioxidant and anticancerous properties in a concentration-dependent manner. Therefore, it was concluded that the Glu-VD3 can be used as a functional ingredient in different food products to enhance the bioavailability of VD3 and protect it from thermal degradation during processing thereby enhancing the nutraceutical potential.