Improvement of physicochemical and functional properties and potential bioaccessibility of rare ginsenoside Rg3 loaded on modified porous cassava starch.

Rg3 is a ginsenoside with multiple pharmacological activities but low bioavailability due to poor lipid solubility, water solubility, and intestinal permeability. In this study, Rg3 was loaded into porous starch (PS) pores and onto granule surfaces, achieving an encapsulation efficiency of 87.42 ± 0.90%. The structural stability and bioaccessibility of PS-loaded Rg3 were systematically studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), molecular size of whole starch by branch SEC, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD), showing maintained crystallinity of PS and reduced thermal loss of Rg3. In vitro Caco-2 cell experiments demonstrate that PS-loaded Rg3 inhibited the excessive proliferation and induced apoptosis, with rates of 8.04%, 38.2%, and 21.47%. The loading system effectively preserves the antioxidant and antibacterial bioactivity of Rg3. This modified porous starch system demonstrates potential as a targeted delivery system for Rg3, enhancing its application prospects in natural drug development.