Preparation and Optimization of Capsaicin-Loaded Chitosan Nanoparticles as Delivery Systems Using Box-Behnken Design

Capsaicin (CAP) is a pungent alkaloid of chili peppers that is obtained from chili peppers that has a variety of pharmacological activities and can be used in various areas, such as functional foods, nutritional supplements and medical nutrition. Capsaicin has important anticancer, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that allow to be applied as treatment for several diseases. However, its lack of water solubility, as well as its poor oral bioavailability in biological systems, show limiting factors for its successful application. Recently, the formulation of capsaicin for food and pharmaceutical use is limited. Therefore, the present study emphasized on preparation of capsaicin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles (CAP-CSNPs) and design and optimization of the formulation using Box-Behnken experimental design (BBD) and response surface methodology (RSM). The capsaicin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles were prepared by o/w emulsification and ionotropic gelification. The optimized formulation of capsaicin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles had a chitosan concentration of 0.11 (%w/v), a Tween 80® concentration of 1.55 (%w/v) and a CAP concentration of 1 mg/mL and that it should be stored at 4°C. Box-Behnken experimental design and response surface methodology was found to be a powerful technique for design and optimization of the preparation of capsaicin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles using limited number of experimental runs. Our study demonstrated that capsaicin-loaded chitosan nanoparticles can be potentially utilized as dietary supplements, nutraceuticals and functional foods.