Preparation of Dextran Aldehyde and BSA Conjugates from Ligno-cellulosic Biowaste for Antioxidant and Anti-cancer Efficacy

The present study attempted to demonstrate the potential application of Kraft lignin (KL) from sugarcane baggasse biomass in the bio-therapeutic areas. Novel conjugate materials (Dex-ald–KL and BSA–KL) were synthesized incorporating KL into dextran aldehyde (Dex-ald) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) via a free radical reaction involving reactive oxygen species induced by ascorbic acid/H2O2 redox pair and studied using various physico-chemical techniques. UV–Visible spectral analysis of the resulting conjugates proved the enhanced conjugation (matrix formation) between constituent biopolymers due to formation of intermolecular linkages. Visual changes were observed in the X-ray diffractogram (XRD) peaks of the conjugates in comparison to free components. Cell viability of the novel conjugate materials was found to decrease by ~ 55–61% against colon cancerous cells (SW480) proving its efficacy as anti-cancer agent while the quantity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) level markedly increased on treatment with conjugate material in comparison to Dex-ald, KL and BSA alone. The above evidences indicated that the conjugates with even low amounts of lignin incorporation exhibited remarkable cytotoxicity suggesting their practical use in the treatment of certain type of cancers.