Optimization of nanoparticle synthesis from wheat straw-derived arabinoxylan for transport and release of bioactive compounds

Xylan, polysaccharide contained in the hemicellulose fraction of lignocellulosic biomasses, have been used as building blocks of several films and hydrogels. Contrary, there is a limited number of studies focused on the design of xylan micro- and nanoparticles. In that sense, this work aims to evaluate the spray-drying technique as an effective method for producing particles with arabinoxylan-derived products (ADPs). ADPs were extracted from wheat straw by enzymatic hydrolysis. Results showed that ADPs are able to form individual spherical particles at the nano- and microscale in presence of surfactant Tween 80. The stability of the particles to storage conditions was highly affected by the xylooligosaccharides hygroscopicity, which became the dia-ultrafiltration a mandatory step before the particle synthesis. The generated particles effectively entrapped 98.5 % of the incorporated caffeine, and showed both, fast and controlled release depending the characteristics of the solvent, which give to the present xylan particles a broad range of promising applications. • Spray-drying produced stable arabinoxylan nanoparticles for bioactive delivery. • Caffeine encapsulation in particles achieved 98.5 % efficiency via spray-drying. • Removing the XOS fraction enhanced particle stability and controlled release. • Immediate caffeine release in water contrasts with prolonged release in ethanol. • Wheat straw-derived arabinoxylan offers sustainable nanotechnology applications.