Nano-encapsulation of isolated lactoferrin from camel milk by calcium alginate and evaluation of its release

Lactoferrin is a glycoprotein, playing several biological roles. The main goal of our work was to nanoencapsulate the isolated lactoferrin from camel milk through alginate nanocapsuls. We studied the influence of alginate concentration (0.2 and 0.5 w/w%) and encapsulation method (thermal vs. non-thermal treatment) on the encapsulation efficiency, zeta potential, particle size and release of lactoferrin from nanocapsuls. Our results revealed in 0.8 and 0.9 M NaCl fractions, lactoperoxidase was present. So these fractions were not passed to further experiments. On average, we measured the lactoferrin content to be 0.5 g/l within the original camel milk. In general, higher alginate concentration resulted in higher encapsulation efficiency and nanocapsuls prepared with thermal treatment had a higher efficiency (almost 100%) along with smaller particle sizes (mostly < 100 nm). By evaluating the release of lactoferrin from nanocapsuls, it was revealed that there was no release at the first 30 min in both pH values (2 and 7). This could be particularly useful since lactoferrin would be maintained intact within stomach conditions and it can reach lower gastrointestinal tract to be delivered safely into the body.