Browsing by Author "Akbar, Iqrah"

Considerable attention has been directed to nanoparticles based on gelatin biopolymer due to its numerous available active group sites for attaching target molecules and acting as a drug or nutraceutical delivery system. The main aim using such nanoparticles is to improve the therapeutic effects and also to reduce the side effects of formulated drugs due the natural and cheap availability of gelatin. Gelatin obtained from fish skin and scales can provide a potential alternative source with almost the same rheological properties as mammalian gelatin and is a beneficial way to use fish waste such as skin, bones and fin which is generally discarded. Nanoencapsulation of bioactive compounds within fish skin gelatin nanoparticles can improve the bioavailability, delivery properties, and solubility of the nutraceutical within the blood stream. Many of such bioactive peptides (biopeptides) are potent antioxidants and as oxidative stress is the main cause of the onset of various chronic diseases encapsulation of antioxidant biopeptides within a fish gelatin nanocarrier system could be a potential remedy to prevent or delay the onset of such diseases and for better health prospects. The purpose of this study was to prepare a safe and cost efficient novel food delivery nanoparticle system encapsulating a desirable antioxidant biopeptide. A high quality protein isolate was chosen from four species; sunflower corn, palm kernel cake and moringa oriefera by alkaline extraction and isoelectric precipitation, and sunflower protein isolate (0.322±0.82 mg/ml protein content) was used as starting material for the generation of an extensive enzymatic protein hydrolysates using sequentially an endo-protease (Alcalase) and an exo-protease (Flavourzyme) and the protein hydrolysates, (biopeptide) with a degree of hydrolysis of 53.6 %, was white and non bitter. The antioxidant activity of the sunflower protein hydrolysates (biopeptide) was quite high at DPPH of 89±1.01% and FRAP assay of 968±0.68 µm/L. Gelatin was extracted from Tilapia fish at an average yield of 10% wt/wt of fish skin and scales. The proximal composition of the gelatin was similar to that of the commercial gelatins, with slightly higher moisture content. The tilapia skin gelatin had whitish yellow color and a similar pH to commercially available gelatin. Gelatin nanoparticles were prepared by a two step desolvation process encapsulating the sunflower protein hydrolysates (biopeptide) and the average diameter of the biopeptide loaded gelatin nanoparticle is between 228.3±0.11 and 1305±0.6 nm. Protein loading efficiency is 76±1.1 % at an optimal pH of 2, glutaraldehyde concentration of 2 ml and biopeptide concentration of 0.1 mg/ml and exhibits DPPH at 92% and FRAP assay of 978±0.65 µm/L. To understand the absorption and protein release of the GNPs, the biopeptide loaded gelatin nanoparticles were subjected to simulated gastrointestinal conditions mimicking the human stomach and intestine and showed a peptide release of 0.1464 and 0.277 mg/mL upon pepsin and pancreatin digestion respectively. This system also demonstrates the capability of preventing the denaturation of protein encapsulated in the GNPs. Cell adhesion studies with human fibroblasts have shown that gelatin nanoparticles do not affect the number of cells adhered to glass as compared to control cells with no particles. Standard cell viability assay demonstrated that cells incubated with gelatin nanoparticles remained more than 100% viable at concentration of 25µg/ml. Upon addition of GNPs loaded with antioxidant biopeptide to frozen yoghurt, negligible difference was measured for pH, hardness and cohesiveness; however, syneresis and adhesiveness saw a slight variation. The antioxidant activity of yoghurt fortified with the antioxidant biopeptide showed an increase with increasing concentration of GNPs added and would deliver the desired food nanoparticle delivery system.

Lycopene is one of the most widely used carotenoid is an efficient antioxidant and is bequeathed with multiple bio-protective roles. Primarily attributed to its unique molecular structure, which can protect the human body against oxidative stress, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and some forms of cancer. Increasing demand of lycopene in the nutraceuticals and drug industry has directed researchers to produce lycopene with cost effective methods in large scale to meet the growing demand. Thus, searching for optimal extraction conditions with antioxidant activity and renewable waste as low cost medium for lycopene production is gaining great interests and abides by the waste reduction concept. The comparison of lycopene content and its lipophillic antioxidant activity was explored amongst four fruit peels; guava, papaya, watermelon and red dragon fruit to choose for the best source. Lycopene content was measured using both UV-vis spectrophotometer and identified using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and thin layer chromatography (TLC) methods. Papaya, a tropical fruit showed tremendous potential as an alternative source and was selected to conduct further investigation. Screening and optimization for the parameters that affected the lycopene extraction and its antioxidant activity were studied using statistical experimental design where three contributing variables were studied to find the optimal levels for the process. Response surface methodology (RSM) using faced centered composite design (FCCCD) was applied to study the interaction between the most contributing factors i.e. temperature, time and solid-solvent ratio. It was observed that with an approximate lycopene yield of 103.1 mg/kg, the DPPH and FRAP equals to 81.85% and 836.46 ?M Fe(II)/L respectively and a higher TPC of 1735.1 mg/L GAE were obtained at temperature 120°C, time of 5 hours in a solid-solvent ratio of 1:40 g/mL. While lycopene yield of 74.538 mg/ kg exhibits DPPH scavenging activity of 91.14 %; FRAP value of 954 ?M Fe(II)/L and TPC content equals 1409.42 mg/L GAE at a temperature of 120°C for 4 hours extraction time with a solid-solvent ratio of 1:30 g/mL. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that the statistical model used was significant (p<0.05) with coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.91 which was very close to the adjusted R2 (0.82) which indicated the reliability of the model. Validation of the model was conducted using the optimal conditions mentioned previously where the predicted and the experimental results are in good agreement which prove the validity of the model and the existence of the optimal conditions. The lycopene oleoresin was saponified using a mixture of propylene glycol and aqueous alkali to obtain substantially pure lycopene crystals. The present work had the objective of confirming the identify of lycopene from papaya peels using HPLC and TLC as the identifying parameters. HPLC revealed that the major constituents of the extraction oleoresin after saponification were lycopene and ?-carotene which constitute 69.879% and 30.121% of the total oleoresin respectively. In conclusion, development of this process would be an alternative source for lycopene production at large scale and cost effective in terms of utilising papaya peels as a renewable raw material.