Ferulic acid grafted self-assembled fructo-oligosaccharide micro particle for targeted delivery to colon

•Ferulic acid is conjugated to fructo oligosaccharide resulting in self-assembled microparticle.•The microparticle were indigestible by human digestive enzyme nor by the intestinal microbiota.•They exhibited thermal stability, anti-colorectal cancer activity and antioxidant activity in-vitro.•They could improve the local exposure of ferulic acid to that of large intestine. Colorectal cancer is the third most commonly occurring malignancy and is ranked second among the leading cause of cancer death globally. The colorectal cancer is attributed to the life style and poor dietary habits. Ferulic acid is known to have anti-cancer activity, anti-oxidant activity and also known to be less toxic to normal cells under high doses. The purpose of this research is to develop an oral dietary intervention by grafting ferulic acid to fructo oligosaccharide and there by self-assembling them in to microparticles for targeted delivery to colon. The microparticle is characterized by using Solid state NMR and FTIR. Their morphological features were studied using SEM, XRD and particle size analyzer. The stability of the microparticle under simulated gastric and intestinal digestion were investigated. The physico-chemical characteristics of the microparticle was investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and by differential scanning calorimetry. Finally the antioxidant activity and anti-cancer activity of the microparticles were investigated in-vitro.