Synthesis and Characterization of Alpinia calcarata Loaded Nanoparticles to Control Hyperglycemia

Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) nanoparticles loaded with the bioactive compounds of A. calcarata, which is known to exert its antidiabetic activity through the inhibition of pancreatic enzymes, are a good form of an antidiabetic nutraceutical as they have reduced side effects, protection of active compounds from environmental agents, specific delivery to target sites and prolonged shelf-life. The objective of the present study was to synthesize and characterize A. calcarata loaded nanoparticles (ALNP) to be used as a powder form nutraceutical with higher antidiabetic activity. In this study an aqueous A. calcarata extract (4.00 mL) was added to BSA (20 mg/mL, 4.00 mL, pH 9) in the presence of citric acid as the cross-linking agent. The ALNP gave an IC50 value of 147 µg/mL, a glucose (5 mM) uptake percentage of 73.09% at a 0.5 mg/mL concentration, a solubility value of 64%, A. calcarata loading percentage of 6.66% and A. calcarata entrapment efficiency of 87.71%. They had a spherical morphology and uniform size with a particle size of 1030.70 nm, PDI of 0.199 and a zeta potential of 2.57 mV. The UV-Visible absorbance spectra and FT-IR spectra showed that citric acid had caused conformational changes in the protein structure of BSA and that the active compounds were successfully loaded into the synthesized nanoparticles which interacted with the protein matrix via covalent bonds. Therefore, it can be concluded that the synthesized nanoparticles have an antidiabetic effect and the antidiabetic activity of bioactive compounds of the aqueous A. calcarata extract become enhanced when loaded onto the nanocarriers.