Co-encapsulation of Vitamin C and β-Carotene in liposomes: Storage stability, antioxidant activity, and in vitro gastrointestinal digestion

Vitamin C (VC) and β -Carotene ( β C) were selected to produce co-encapsulated liposomes using hydrophilic and hydrophobic cavities simultaneously by ethanol injection method. The results of liposomal structure characterized by particle size, polydispersity index, zeta-potential and transmission electron microscope showed that the microstructure of all liposomal samples was spherical without adhesion or break and the size of VC- β C-loaded liposome (L-VC- β C) was bigger than VC-loaded liposome (L-VC) or β C-loaded liposome (L- β C). The encapsulation efficiency (EE) of VC in L-VC- β C was significantly higher than that in L-VC, and the EE of β C in L-VC- β C had no significant change compared with that in L- β C. The free radical scavenging rate of L-VC- β C was significantly higher than that of L- β C, while it had no significant change compared with that of L-VC. In addition, the storage stability of β C in L-VC- β C improved greatly compared with that in L- β C. Furthermore, the zero order model was applied to understand the release kinetics of β C from L- β C and L-VC- β C in the stomach, whereas the Korsmeyr-Peppas model was chosen to describe the release of β C from two types of liposome in small intestine and their release mechanisms were mainly dominated by Fickian diffusion. It was significant to provide a new idea for using hydrophilic and hydrophobic cavities simultaneously in liposomes to design the multicomponent nutrient delivery system.