Aim: The aim of this study was to encapsulate glabridin (GB) into nanoparticles, prepared by an ionic-gelation method blended with chitosan (CS) and poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) to address the issue of poor stability and low water solubility of glabridin. Methods: The physicochemical properties of nanoparticles were investigated by transmission electron microscope (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) and fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Results: FT-IR results indicated that the spontaneous interaction between CS, γ-PGA and GB can form a cross linked network-structure, leading to the spontaneous formation of nanoparticles. Morphology of the complex particles was nano-scale spherical shape. Furthermore, particle size was decreased according to the decrease of γ-PGA contents and CS, accompanying with the increase of mixed solution transmittance. The mγ-PGA: mGB = 1: 1 and mCS: (mγ-PGA + mGB) =1: 1 were considered to be a proper preparation condition of CS/γ-PGA/GB hybrid nanoparticles, which produced the smaller nanoparticles with the satisfactory encapsulation efficiency (EE), loading content (LC) and sustained GB release. With the increase of pH values, the potential, EE, and LC decreased gradually, while the particle size increased. The nanoparticles prepared with higher molecular weight γ-PGA had larger particle size and less loading capacity on GB. Additionally, moderate weight ratio of CS/γ-PGA/GB, low pH, and high molecular weight of γ-PGA were favorable for sustained release. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the physicochemical properties of nanoparticles and GB release behaviors were affected by several factors including the weight ratio of CS/γ-PGA/GB, pHvalues, and γ-PGA molecular weight (MW). Nanoencapsulation using CS, γ-PGA and GB has a potential application for the development of functional cosmetic products with skin-whitening effect.

中文翻译：

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壳聚糖/聚-γ-谷氨酸/光甘草酸杂化纳米粒的制备及其释放性能研究

目的：本研究的目的是将光甘草定 (GB) 封装到纳米粒子中，通过离子凝胶法与壳聚糖 (CS) 和聚-γ-谷氨酸 (γ-PGA) 混合制备，以解决稳定性差和光甘草定的低水溶性。方法：通过透射电子显微镜（TEM）、动态光散射（DLS）和傅里叶变换红外（FT-IR）光谱研究纳米粒子的物理化学性质。结果：FT-IR 结果表明，CS、γ-PGA 和 GB 之间的自发相互作用可以形成交联网络结构，从而导致纳米粒子的自发形成。复合粒子的形貌呈纳米级球形。此外，粒径随着γ-PGA含量和CS的降低而降低，伴随着混合溶液透光率的增加。mγ-PGA: mGB = 1: 1 和 mCS: (mγ-PGA + mGB) =1: 1 被认为是 CS/γ-PGA/GB 杂化纳米粒子的合适制备条件，其产生的纳米粒子较小，令人满意的封装效率 (EE)、负载量 (LC) 和持续的 GB 释放。随着pH值的增加，电势、EE和LC逐渐降低，而粒径增加。用较高分子量的 γ-PGA 制备的纳米颗粒具有较大的粒径和对 GB 的较小负载能力。此外，CS/γ-PGA/GB 的适度重量比、低 pH 值和高分子量的 γ-PGA 有利于缓释。结论：可以得出结论，纳米粒子的物理化学性质和 GB 释放行为受几个因素的影响，包括 CS/γ-PGA/GB 的重量比、pH 值和 γ-PGA 分子量 (MW)。使用 CS、γ-PGA 和 GB 的纳米封装在开发具有美白效果的功能性化妆品方面具有潜在的应用价值。