Abstract

Summary The ability of liposomes (LP) to entrap ascorbic acid (AA) was improved via coating with xanthan gum (XG). The encapsulation efficiency of AA liposomes (AA-LP) increased from 29.7% to 76.2%, and their retention ratio in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids reduced from 43.0% to 29.4% and 78.56% to 49.2%, respectively, after coating with XG, indicating that AA-LP stability was effectively increased. XG-AA-LP zeta potential and particle size increased from −29.4 mV to −51.6 mV and 240.9 nm to 291.4 nm, respectively. The increase in XG-AA-LP P values indicated that XG inhibited the movement of phospholipids, leading to a decrease in phospholipid bilayer mobility. Furthermore, FTIR results implied that noncovalent bonding forces such as hydrogen bonding, electrostatic forces, etc. played crucial roles in the binding of XG to AA-Lip, and DSC results indicated that the thermal stability of LP increased after coating with XG. TEM results signified that some irregular substances bound to the surface of AA-LP and the liposome particles became larger compared to those of AA-LP, and the surface of AA-LP was coated with XG. These findings suggest that XG coating can be an effective strategy to develop LP ability to deliver AA and to increase AA-LP stability.