Mucoadhesive Chitosan–Gum Arabic Nanoparticles Enhance the Absorption and Antioxidant Activity of Quercetin in the Intestinal Cellular Environment

Quercetin (QUE)-loaded nanoparticles (QCG-NPs) were fabricated by ionic gelation between chitosan (CS) and gum arabic (GA) at pH 3.5. At constant CS (0.5 mg/mL) and QUE (60 μM) concentrations, QCG-NPs (260–490 nm) were prepared uniformly with 0.8–2.2 mg/mL GA and exhibited high QUE encapsulation efficiency (94.8–98.0%) and sustained QUE release (4.42–8.89% after 8 h). Because of the electrostatic interaction between QCG-NPs and the mucin layer,...