A Study On Ascorbic Acid Conjugated Sericin Nanoparticles In Cosmetics Application

Abstract

Although the potential role as an antioxidant is well established for protecting cells from oxidative stress, poor chemical stability and low biological concentration (micromolar) of ascorbic acid restrict its function primarily as an antioxidant. Silk sericin (SS) is a byproduct of the silk transformation process that is treated as waste in the textile industry. In recent times, SS has been discovered to possess significant biological properties, including corrosion resistance, antimicrobial activity, UV protection, ease of absorption, and moisture release, among others. This study's primary purpose was to report the importance of silk sericin in the form of nano-sericin loaded with ascorbic acid as a promising ingredient in cosmetic formulation and manufacturing. Using anti-solvent diffusion, dropwise additions of intact sericin aqueous solution to ethanol (EtOH) created nanoparticles (Silk sericin-conjugated Ascorbic acid). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to examine the chemistry, structure, morphology, and size distribution of the nanocarriers. Nanosericin had a size distribution of about 200-300nm. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements were used to assess the impact of sericin concentration on particle size. In terms of the conjugation confirmation, there were three tests. Results of SDS PAGE showed that the increase of molecular weight of the conjugated nanoparticles was slightly lower than SS nanoparticles, at approximately 200 and 225 kDa, respectively; high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used to determine the amount of ascorbic acid wholly adsorbed onto the surface of sericin molecules via physical adsorption.; and the functional group of the conjugated was identified using Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). In addition, the DPPH (1- diphenyl-2- picrylhydrazyl) test was used to determine the antioxidant capacity. As a result, the collected conjugation possessed IC50 values of 9.29ug/mL and 8.36ug/mL or SS and AASS NPs, respectively, which was lower than Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C). The obtained results, however, could have been better due to some problems with techniques, material sources, conditions, and temperature in the laboratory. Moreover, this study cannot be academic research due to limitations about time, experimental environment, and capacity. Therefore, the stability of Ascorbic acid-conjugated Sericin nanoparticles and their usage in cosmetics should be confirmed by further studies.