Anthocyanins are phenolic compounds very commons in red, blue and purple flowers or fruits. These compounds are of great interest because of their anti-inflammatory and antioxidant capabilities. Antioxidant properties have been studied in the framework of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. In such disorders oxidative stress induce toxic effects and the formation of reactive oxygen species, among which are the free radicals that trigger the formation of plaques of the β amyloid protein that cause neuronal death. Anthocyanins have been found to be a radical free scavenger. However, due to poor pharmacokinetic of these compounds, a way of effective preservation, administration and adsorption are still under research. This work is related to microencapsulation of anthocyanins extracts from purple flowers of <i>Ruellia tuberosa</i> in alginate hydrogels. The extraction of flavonoids compounds was made using a mixture of water and ethanol. The extract was characterized by using UV-Vis spectroscopy at different pHs. This ethanolic extract was encapsulated through an ionic gelation method using 1.5% of Na-Alginate and 5% of CaCl<sub>2.</sub> The dry micro-hydrogel beads were morphologically characterized by using optical microscopy. The size of the obtained beads ranged between 860 µm and 640 µm for the alginate beads before and after the anthocyanins’ encapsulation. The anthocyanins were analyzed after two weeks of encapsulation applying a pH differential method, and found that the compounds retained their chemical integrity. The results demonstrated a successful microencapsulation and preservation of anthocyanins that guarantees the bioavailability of antioxidant properties of the compounds and provides a potential approach for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.

Microencapsulation of anthocyanins in alginate hydrogels for potential applications in anti-β amyloidosis therapies

2019 Spring National Meeting

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