Plastic nanoscale materials are not intentionally added to foods, but they can enter foods in a variety of ways, thus concerns about the impact on human health are raising. The properties of plastic nanoparticles can change significantly when incorporated into the food matrix and may exhibit different behaviors in interaction with enzymes following ingestion. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of plastic nanoparticles of different diameters and concentrations on the activity of digestive enzymes (α-amylase, pepsin, lipase) to determine their behavior in the gastrointestinal tract before and after interaction with food. Polystyrene nanoparticles at different diameters were incubated with digestive enzymes after interacted with the food matrix and their activities were determined for each enzyme. Enzyme activities after digestion were also measured by the same methods. The activity of the solution containing the enzyme mixture from each medium was examined. The highest reduction in enzyme activities was observed in lipase activity. In 30 and 100 nm nanoparticles, the activity reduced to 74% at the highest concentration. The lipase activity decreased to 83% in the 450 nm particle, but no statistically significant difference was observed between the concentrations. The particle with the highest reduction in amylase activity is the value of the 30 nm particle measured after interaction with food. It was observed that the activity decreased to 85% in the free enzyme and to 88% in the enzyme taken from the digestive medium. The outputs to be obtained will make a significant contribution to the assessment of potential risks and toxicity of nanoplastics in terms of food safety.

Effect of nanoplastics on the activity of digestive enzymes

ACS Spring 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.