Uniaxial Electrospinning Encapsulation of Bioactive Peptides into Green Nanofibers Containing Pullulan-Alginate-CaCl2

Zahide Kirbas, Filiz Altay*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: The objective was to encapsulate the standard peptide mixture (SPM) into a green electrospun Pull-NaAlg-CaCl2 composite with high encapsulation efficiency (EE). The morphology and stability of the fibers and the effects of feed solutions with different compositions on electrospinnability were investigated. Methods: To evaluate the morphology and stability of the fibers, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and zeta potential measurements were performed. The effects of solution properties on electrospinnability evaluated by the conductivity, surface tension, dielectric constant and viscosity measurments. To obtain the EE of the SMP, their amount in the nanofibers was determined via high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results: The Pull-NaAlg-CaCl2 solution containing the SPM was successfully electrospun at a flow rate of 0.50 mL/h, an applied voltage of 12 kV, and a distance of 12 cm to the collector plate. The high conductivity and low surface tension induced electrospinnability, whereas SEM analyses revealed that the SPM-loaded electrospun fibers had fine, uniform and bead-free nanostructures with a mean diameter of 88.7 ± 10.85 nm. The zeta potential of the nanofiber dispersions indicated instability and a tendency toward aggregation. The encapsulation efficiency (EE) of the SPM by uniaxial electrospinning was 77.97 ± 1.65% in terms of the total peptide content. Conclusion: The combined effects of the applied voltage, concentration and feed rate of the feed solution and the dielectric constant on the zeta potential, stability of the nanofibers and desired EE need to be investigated. Our results indicate that the proposed technique is suitable for the green encapsulation of bioactive peptides and has potential use for nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and cosmetic purposes.

Original languageEnglish
Article number19
JournalInternational Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics
Volume31
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V. 2024.

Keywords

  • Electrospinnability
  • Encapsulation
  • Green composite nanofiber
  • Peptide
  • Pullulan

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