Fabrication of compact zein-chondroitin sulfate nanocomplex by anti-solvent co-precipitation: Prevent degradation and regulate release of curcumin

The main purpose of this study was to prepare zein-chondroitin sulfate (ZC) nanocomplex by anti-solvent co-precipitation, and to encapsulate, protect and controlled-release curcumin. As the proportion of chondroitin sulfate (CS) increased, the particle size, turbidity and zeta-potential of the ZC nanocomplexes all increased. When the mass ratio of zein and CS was 10:3, the ZC nanocomplex had small particle size (129 nm) and low polydispersity index (0.3). According to FTIR, FS, CD and XRD results, zein and CS were tightly bound by electrostatic attraction, hydrophobic effect and hydrogen bonding. The ZC nanocomplex was designed to encapsulate curcumin with high encapsulation efficiency (94.7%) and loading capacity (3.8%), and also enhanced the resistance of curcumin to light and thermal degradation by 2.9 and 2.4 times. It also exhibited controlled release capability during simulated gastrointestinal digestion. These results suggested the ZC nanocomplex is a good delivery vehicle to facilitate the application of curcumin.