Diffusion of Fluorescently Labeled Bacteriocin from Edible Nanomaterials and Embedded Nano-Bioactive Coatings

Application of nano-biotechnology to improve the controlled release of drugs or functional agents is widely anticipated to transform the biomedical, pharmaceutical, and food safety trends. The purpose of the current study was to assess and compare the release rates of fluorescently labeled antimicrobial peptide nisin (lantibiotic/biopreservative) from liposomal nanocarriers. The elevated temperature, high electrostatic attraction between anionic bilayers and cationic nisin, larger size, and higher encapsulation efficiency resulted in rapid and elevated release through pore formation. However, acidic pH and optimal ethanol concentration in food simulating liquid (FSL) improved the stability and retention capacity of loaded drug. Thus, controlling various factors had provided partition coefficient K values from 0.23 to 8.78 indicating variation in nisin affinity toward encapsulating macromolecule or FSL. Interaction between nisin and nanoscale bilayer systems by atomic force (AFM) and transmission electron microscopy demonstrated membrane activity of nisin from adsorption and aggregation to pore formation. Novel nanoactive films with preloaded nanoliposomes embedded in biodegradable polymer revealed improved morphological, topographic, and roughness parameters studied by confocal microscopy and AFM. Pre-encapsulated nanoactive biopolymer demonstrated excellent retention capacity as drug carriers by decreasing the partition coefficient value from 1.8 to 0.66 (∼30%) due to improved stability of nanoliposomes embedded in biopolymer network.