Ganoderma lucidum -Derived Oligosaccharides: Antioxidant Prebiotics and Encapsulating Agents for Controlled Delivery of Essential Oils in a Selenium Nanoparticle–Alginate–Chitosan Hybrid System

Abstract

Ganoderma lucidum (GL) byproducts have promising potential as antioxidant prebiotics and encapsulating agents after structural modification. However, integrating GL-derived oligosaccharides with an encapsulation system that improves essential oil (EO) stability and targeted intestinal release while combining antioxidant and potential prebiotic functions into a single platform remains largely unexplored. Therefore, the study aimed to structurally modify GL byproducts and to develop a hybrid delivery system incorporating GL-derived oligosaccharides for the controlled delivery of EO and enhanced prebiotic effects. The GL byproducts were modified via hot water hydrolysis (H) and enzymatic hydrolysis (E) to obtain modified GL (GLm), and their oligosaccharide compositions and antioxidant and prebiotic activities were evaluated. The delivery system was developed by encapsulating sweet basil oil (SBO as model EOs) within selenium nanoparticles (Se as the nanocarrier), followed by a secondary coating with a GLm–sodium alginate (SA)–chitosan (CS) complex to obtain Se-SBO-GLm-SA-CS. The particles were characterized in terms of their physicochemical properties and in vitro cumulative release. The combined modification methods (H-E) increased the release of β-glucan, fructooligosaccharides, and xylooligosaccharides and exhibited significantly higher total phenolic content and antioxidant activity (P < 0.05). Se-SBO-GLm-SA-CS exhibited a cumulative release rate of 74.16 ± 2.53% under simulated intestinal conditions, accompanied by the release of 49.84 ± 0.15% of the antioxidant activity. These findings demonstrate that GL-derived oligosaccharides possess significant potential as an antioxidant prebiotic and coencapsulation agent for EO stabilization and targeted intestinal delivery. This design not only improves the encapsulation performance but also provides potential antioxidant and prebiotic functionality, while promoting the use of renewable byproducts as value-added materials.