Agronomic Cultivation, Chemical Composition, Functional Activities and Applications of Pereskia Species - A Mini Review.

Background: The exploration of the plant biodiversity as a natural source to obtain sustainable food products and new bioactive pharmaceutical compounds has been growing significantly due to their abundance, safety and economy. Natural pharmaceutical and edible compounds present some advantages when compared to synthetic ones, such as being chemically inert and widely available. In this sense, plants of the genus Pereskia belonging to the Cactaceae family, have been studied.

Electrostatic Self-Assembled Chitosan-Pectin Nano- and Microparticles for Insulin Delivery.

A polyelectrolyte complex system of chitosan-pectin nano- and microparticles was developed to encapsulate the hormone insulin. The aim of this work was to obtain small particles for oral insulin delivery without chemical crosslinkers based on natural and biodegradable polysaccharides. The nano- and microparticles were developed using chitosans (with different degrees of acetylation: 15.

Chitosan/pectin polyelectrolyte complex as a pH indicator.

A polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) matrix formed between chitosan and pectin was developed to entrap a bioactive compound (anthocyanin), obtaining an useful pH indicator device. Polysaccharides of opposite charges such as chitosan and pectin can have a very strong intermolecular interaction. The innovation lies in obtaining a new system based on natural and biodegradable compounds, which is simple to manufacture, to indicate variation in pH by visual changes in colour.