The effect of ultrasonic microstructuring of biologically active substances on the efficiency of their encapsulation process

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using microstructuring of biologically active substances to increase the efficiency of their encapsulation. Many biologically active substances, especially of polyphenolic nature, are polymer forms of compounds whose biological activity is largely inferior to their monomeric forms. Encapsulation of polymer forms of bioactive substances is also associated with a number of problems, including the complexity of obtaining micro- and nanoscale preparations, the low level of loading of these substances into the delivery system, and the low bioavailability of these compounds. Within the framework of this study, a method of ultrasonic microstructuring of dihydroquercetin, a plant antioxidant of polyphenolic nature, was proposed and tested. The assessment of the dispersed composition of solutions of dihydroquercetin in the initial and microstructured form was carried out. It is shown that ultrasonic exposure in the proposed mode allows you to change the size range of bioactive substance particles in solution and bring them to a more aligned state. At the same time, the removal of the spectra of solutions of dihydroquercetin in the initial and microstructured form showed that in both cases the bioactive substance is present in the form of a mixture of polymeric and monomeric forms. To evaluate the effectiveness of encapsulation of the initial and microstructured forms of dihydroquercetin, β-cyclodextrin, which is an approved dietary supplement, was selected as a delivery system. The technique of encapsulation of dihydroquercetin in its original and microstructured form was identical. The obtained results of determining the encapsulation efficiency indicate the expediency of using microstructuring of a biologically active substance before its encapsulation. The value of the indicator of the effectiveness of encapsulation of dihydroquercetin in microstructured form was 1.3 times higher than the value of this indicator for dihydroquercetin encapsulated in its original form. The proposed approach may have prospects for use in the production of functional food ingredients and biologically active additives using encapsulation technologies.