Abstract

This study was conducted to extract and encapsulate anthocyanins from black rice bran using chitosan-alginate nanoparticles. Ten black rice varieties were screened for the anthocyanin content and the variety with the highest anthocyanins was used for the encapsulation. The anthocyanins were extracted by defatting the bran with n-hexane and soaking it with 85% acidified ethanol. The crude anthocyanin extract (CAE) was freeze-dried at -110°C for 48 h and then encapsulated in chitosan-alginate nanoparticles using two processes: ionic pre-gelation and polyelectrolyte complex formation. The mass ratio of chitosan and alginate polymers used in this study was 100:10. The treatments applied were as follows: T₀-0 mg CAE, T₁-10 mg CAE, T₂-20 mg CAE, and T₃-30 mg CAE. The resulting capsules were characterized in terms of chemical properties, surface morphology, particle size, polydispersive index, encapsulation efficiency, and 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity. Screening of rice samples indicated that Ominio bran had the highest anthocyanin content (36.11 mg/g). Anthocyanins were successfully encapsulated in the matrix as shown by the Scanning Electron Microscopy images and Fourier Transform Infrared spectra of the anthocyanin-loaded chitosan-alginate nanoparticles. Among the different concentrations of CAE, T₃ had the highest encapsulation efficiency (68.9%) and antioxidant scavenging activity (38.3%) while T₁ and T₂ had the lowest. Ascending particle size was observed for T₀ (358.5 nm), T₃ (467.9 nm), T₁ (572.3 nm), and T₂ (635.9 nm). All anthocyanin-loaded capsules were found to be of nano-size (<1000 nm). The study concluded that chitosan-alginate nanoparticles can be a good encapsulating material for anthocyanin.

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