Development of technology driven functional and natural health products has a number of challenges since bioactive ingredients incorporated are unstable to processing with reduced absorption, low bioavailability and reduced shelf life. Encapsulation offers a great potential for protecting and delivering bioactive components and micro-organisms through technology driven products to enhance human...

BACKGROUND Particulates incorporating DNA are promising vehicles for gene delivery, with the ability to protect DNA and provide for controlled, localized, and sustained release and transfection. Zein, a hydrophobic protein from corn, is biocompatible and has properties that make it a promising candidate material for particulate delivery, including its ability to form nanospheres through coacerv...

Reported is the ability of α-helical polypeptides to self-assemble with oppositely-charged polypeptides to form liquid complexes while maintaining their α-helical secondary structure. Coupling the α-helical polypeptide to a neutral, hydrophilic polymer and subsequent complexation enables the formation of nanoscale coacervate-core micelles. While previous reports on polypeptide complexation demo...

Mixtures of gum arabic and whey protein (whey protein isolate, WP) form an electrostatic complex in a specific pH range. Three phase boundaries (pH(c), pHphi(1), pHphi(2)) have been determined using an original titration method, newly applied to complex coacervation. It consists of monitoring the turbidity and light scattering intensity under slow acidification in situ with glucono-delta-lacton...

The aim of the work was to develop biodegradable microspheres for controlled delivery of the somatostatin analogue vapreotide and maintenance of sustained plasma levels over 2-4 weeks after a single injection in rats. Vapreotide was microencapsulated into end-group capped and uncapped low molecular weight poly(lactide) (PLA) and poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) by spray-drying and coacervation...