Two mesostructured silicas with wormhole-like pore arrangement (HMS and MSU-2) were synthesized and evaluated for the first time as carriers for the encapsulation of two bioactive flavonoids (quercetin and naringin). For comparative purposes, a hexagonal mesostructured SBA-15 silica type frequently used as encapsulating support was also prepared and tested. All the materials were characterized before and after the loading with the analytes. Different silica/analyte ratios were evaluated to determine the loading and encapsulation kinetics of the different materials. Both flavonoids were successfully loaded inside the pores of the three silicas. The quercetin loading capacity of HMS was higher than SBA-15 and MSU-2 silicas, whereas for naringin SBA-15 and MSU-2 were slightly more effective. These differences could be attributed to the molecular size of the analytes and the textural properties of the different materials. Nevertheless, HMS was the silica that enabled to release the highest amount of both analytes. Thus, it could be considered a suitable carrier of these flavonoids and an alternative to other materials such as SBA-15. Moreover, the release process was performed under controlled conditions (pH 2.0 and 7.4) to simulate digestive conditions. Quercetin was delivered faster and more efficiently from the encapsulated at pH 2.0, whereas no differences were observed for naringin at both pHs. Finally, the antioxidant activity of the resulting encapsulates was determined. The results obtained suggested the potential use of wormhole-like mesostructured silicas as carriers to enhance the stability and bioavailability of flavonoids, so they can be used in future food and biomedical applications.

首次合成并评估了两种具有虫洞状孔排列的介孔结构二氧化硅（HMS 和 MSU-2）作为包封两种生物活性黄酮类化合物（槲皮素和柚皮苷）的载体。出于比较的目的，还制备并测试了经常用作封装载体的六边形介观结构 SBA-15 二氧化硅类型。在加载分析物之前和之后对所有材料进行表征。评估了不同的二氧化硅/分析物比率以确定不同材料的负载和封装动力学。两种黄酮类化合物均成功加载到三种二氧化硅的孔隙内。HMS 的槲皮素负载能力高于 SBA-15 和 MSU-2 二氧化硅，而柚皮苷 SBA-15 和 MSU-2 的负载能力略强。这些差异可归因于分析物的分子大小和不同材料的质地特性。尽管如此，HMS 是能够释放最高量两种分析物的二氧化硅。因此，它可以被认为是这些类黄酮的合适载体和其他材料（如 SBA-15）的替代品。此外，释放过程是在受控条件（pH 2.0 和 7.4）下进行的，以模拟消化条件。在 pH 2.0 时，槲皮素可以更快、更有效地从包封物中递送，而柚皮苷在两种 pH 值下均未观察到差异。最后，测定所得胶囊的抗氧化活性。获得的结果表明虫洞状介孔结构二氧化硅作为载体的潜在用途，以提高黄酮类化合物的稳定性和生物利用度，