Introducing potato starch-ecofriendly silver nanoparticles as a novel binary system for nanoencapsulation of riboflavin

Riboflavin (Rf), an externally supplied nutrient, is highly photosensitive, and should be protected from sunlight once used in food and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The applications of encapsulated Rf have recently developed due to their therapeutic properties. In this study, the use of green silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) synthesized by Rosa damascena mill L. extract to control the encapsulation efficiency of Rf in potato starch was demonstrated for the first time. Starch/Rf, Starch/AgNPs/Rf and Starch/AgNPs nanocapsules were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared, field emission scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and brunauer-Emmett-Teller techniques. The obtained results showed that the presence of AgNPs reduces Rf nanocapsules size (from 340 to 327 nm), increases the encapsulation efficiency (21.14 ± 0.62 to 92.52 ± 1.32 %) and improves the thermal stability, antibacterial and antioxidant activities. Moreover, UV-vis spectroscopy demonstrated the stronger association of AgNPs/Rf and AgNPs/Rf/Starch nanocapsules with BSA under physiological conditions.