Polysaccharides-based delivery system for efficient encapsulation and controlled release of food-derived active peptides

A polysaccharides-based delivery system was designed to encapsulate and control the release of peanut peptide (PP). The PP-loaded polyelectrolyte complex (TMC-PP-SA) was fabricated based on the electrostatic self-assembly between n-trimethy chitosan (TMC) and sodium alginate (SA). The complex exhibited uniform spherical morphology, satisfactory stability and high encapsulation efficiency. In vitro release behavior indicated that TMC-PP-SA polyelectrolyte complex could inhibit the release of PP at simulated gastric medium and enhance the release of PP at simulated intestinal medium. Moreover, the antioxidant activity of PP after encapsulation was significantly improved compared with that of directly digested PP. Ex vivo intestinal permeation study confirmed that about 41.76 ± 1.43% PP in TMC-PP-SA could be absorbed in the intestinal. The cytotoxicity measurement indicated that the fabricated TMC-PP-SA polyelectrolyte complex was biocompatible and nontoxic. Therefore, these results indicated that the polysaccharides-based delivery system had great potential in protecting active peptides from degradation and facilitating their absorption.