A pH-driven method for liposomal encapsulation of dietary flavonoid rutin: Sustained release and enhanced bioefficacy

Dietary polyphenols offer a wide range of health benefits in functional food, nutraceutical, as well as pharma-ceutical industries. Their practical applications, however, encounter several challenges due to limited solubility and bioavailability. In the present study, we have developed a pH-driven method to prepare rutin-loaded lipo-somes which were characterized by evaluating particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), zeta potential, TEM, and encapsulation efficacy. The IC50 value of encapsulated rutin for HeLa cells was 250 mu mol/L, while free rutin shows insignificant inhibitory effect. Besides, the bioaccessibility of rutin enhanced from 9.8% to 19.7% upon liposomal encapsulation. The percentage release of free rutin in SGF and SIF was-98.4% and-98.7% respectively within 6 h. However, upon encapsulation, less than 55% was released even after 24 h. Overall, the enhanced bioaccessibility, reduced cell viability of HeLa cells, and most importantly, sustained release for rutin-loaded liposomes, accounted for the favorable outcome of our approach.