In this study, the binding of the Capsaicin onto the dendrimers was investigated. The size, structure and morphology of the nanoparticles were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The binding of the Capsaicin onto the nano drug delivery carrier, dendrimer were initially confirmed by UV-Vis Spectrophotometer and further confirmed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The shape of dendrimers became distinct after the binding of capsaicin. The free dendrimers were found to be aggregated while DNCps were observed to exhibit good dispersability and defined shape because of the inert coating of the capsaicin. The average diameter of the dendrimer was found to be 96.2 nm while that of capsaicin bound dendrimers was 143.1 nm. The maximum binding occurred at moderate capsaicin loading (0.50 mg). The DNCps was found to show the anti-cancer effect against the MCF – 7 cells and the HEp 2 cells. The cytotoxicity of it against the cancer cells was at the concentration 0.62 µg/mL, which was much lower than against the normal cells (1.25 µg/mL), hence enabling the administration of the nanoformulation against such cancer cells. By this study, it was concluded that DNCps can be used as an efficient drug against cancer.

Keywords: Dendrimers, capsaicin, nanoformulation, MCF – 7, HEp 2, anti-cancer