Liposomal nanodelivery systems using soy and marine lecithin to encapsulate food biopreservative nisin

•Liposomes was produced from vegetable and marine lecithins and not only from pure phospholipids.•Liposome physico-chemical properties led to a high stability in adequacy with food applications.•Blend of free and encapsulated nisin was strongly effective against Listeria monocytogenes.

Purified nisin was encapsulated in liposomes made with marine lecithin (ML) or soy lecithin (SL) using a continuous cell disruption system method of microfluidic format and compared with liposomes prepared from proliposomes. SL had higher omega-6 and polar lipids as compared to ML while proliposomes contained only saturated phospholipids. Nisin was entrapped in SL liposomes with highest encapsulation efficiency of 47% at 5% SL concentration. Average size of these liposomes ranged from 151 ± 4 to 181 ± 5 nm, without or with nisin respectively. Electrophoretic mobility was influenced by the nature and concentration of lecithin; however, incorporation of nisin reduced the negative charge of liposomes significantly. Physical stability of liposome-encapsulated nisin was demonstrated for 6 weeks at 4 °C, though transmission electron microscopic studies revealed pore-formation by nisin and fusion phenomenon after 20 weeks at 4 °C. Antimicrobial assay revealed that blend of unencapsulated/free and encapsulated nisin (1:1) exhibited a better control of Listeria monocytogenes CIP 82110 as compared to free or 100% encapsulated nisin alone. Thus developing liposomes formulation made from SL may provide an efficient nanodelivery system for nisin.