Abstract
The instability of ester bonds, low water solubility, and increased cytotoxicity of flavonoid glycoside esters significantly limit their application in the food industry. Therefore, the present study attempted to resolve these issues through liposome encapsulation. The results showed that baicalin butyl ester (BEC4) and octyl ester (BEC8) have higher encapsulation and loading efficiencies and lower leakage rate from liposomes than baicalin. FTIR results revealed the location of BEC4 and BEC8 in the hydrophobic layer of liposomes, which was different from baicalin. Additionally, liposome encapsulation improved the water solubility and stability of BEC4 and BEC8 in the digestive system and PBS but significantly reduced their cytotoxicity. Furthermore, the release rate of BEC4 and BEC8 from liposomes was lower than that of baicalin during gastrointestinal digestion. These results indicate that liposome encapsulation alleviated the negative effects of fatty chain introduction into flavonoid glycosides.
Authors’ contributions
W. W., M. Z., and X. X. performed the conception and design of the study. W. W., X. X., M. Z., X. L. and W. B. performed experimental design, experiments, acquisition of data, and analysis and interpretation of data. X. X., X. L., and G. Z. discussed the project and provided key resources and supervised the project. W. W. and X. X. wrote the manuscript, and the final manuscript was revised and approved by all the authors.
Disclosure statement
All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.