In-vitro Biocompatibility Studies of Mint Oil-Vitamin D Nanoparticles

Mint, a medicinal plant has gained immense attention from food and pharmaceutical industries because of its numerous health benefits while treating Vitamin D (Vit D) deficiency via recommended fortified food always remains the primary objective of nutritionists. We aimed to evaluate the biocompatible nature of our mint oil-Vit D encapsulated β-Cyclodextrin carbon-based nanoparticles before establishing their potential application in the medicine and food industry. The repercussion of different concentrations of nanoparticles was evaluated on various model systems (microbes, cell lines, erythrocytes, plant seeds and zebrafish embryos) and result obtained was subjected to statistical analysis. In our study, synthesized nanoparticles revealed no antimicrobial activity. The cytotoxicity and anticancer potential of the nanoparticles were studied using L929 and HeLa cell lines respectively at various concentrations and divulged the fact that these nanoparticles induce significant cell death at higher concentrations but remain non-detrimental at lower concentrations. Further, exposure of nanoparticles to RBCs presented a dose-dependent induction of hemolysis and lipid peroxide production. A similar trend of toxicity was evident in the zebrafish embryo as well at higher concentrations. Phytotoxicity analysis revealed no effect of nanoparticles on germination of seeds albeit the root and shoot length of seedlings were affected significantly. Overall, our results indicate high biocompatibility of these nanoparticles only at lower concentrations and their further applications in various industries should strictly consider minimal doses.