Around 80% of the world’s creation of starch is corn starch, which was extracted from corn pieces (content 64–80%) through the wet-processing process [
17]. Corn starch is used in a broad variety of foodstuffs and applications. Basic corn starches have a small amount of protein (0.35%), lipid (0.8%), ash, and >98% of two polysaccharides, namely amylose and amylopectin. Starch comes from plant sources that are insoluble in water, and at room temperature, it is in the form of granules [
18]. Usually, corn and waxy maize starch granules differ in their size from 2 to 30 mm; most fall in the range of 12–15 mm. They also differ in shape, appearing as cross-sections of polygons [
19].
3. Biomedical Application of Corn Starch Based Nanomaterials
The unique physiochemical and functional characteristics of natural starches such as their good biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxicity, and degradation make them useful for a wide range of biomedical applications (). Several biodegradable starch polymers, particularly in the field of bone tissue technique, drug delivery systems, and hydrogels, have been broadly examined during the last few years [
129].
Figure 3. Different applications of corn starch.
Salgado et al. (2005) have shown that the biodegradable bone cements, which are based on starch, can provide a temporary structural base and gradually vanish thereafter. Furthermore, biodegradable polymers based on starch have been reported for bone tissue engineering scaffolding [
130]. According to Gomes et al. (2002), an ideal scaffold must be designed on the basis of a biomaterial that has adequate rates of degradation compatible with new tissue formation. Therefore, the choice of starch can be used for scaffolding applications [
131]. In drug delivery systems, the further potential attraction of biodegradable polymers based on starch has been reported. The drug administration device of biodegradable starch is effective in deliverability without surgery [
132]. The findings of the above studies show that the starch can be used in the medical industry as biomaterials. However, current biodegradable polymers based on starch clearly have lower mechanical characteristics, thus limiting the ability to be utilized in various biomedical applications. Therefore, the production of nanocomposite starch content was initiated to remove biodegradable starch limitations alone [
133]. Liu et al. (2016) developed a nanocarrier-based starch nanoparticles in which four polyphenols are inserted: (+) -catechin, (−) -epicatechin, (−) -epigallocatechin-3-gallate, and proanthocyanidin. In addition, the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium assay demonstrated low cytotoxicity and good biocompatibility [
134].
Nanoparticles have been an important topic of research in the area of anti-cancer drug delivery. The distribution application of nanoparticles made of biodegradable materials such as polylactic acid, proteins, and polysaccharides has been documented. Polysaccharide systems are becoming increasingly important among all the studies because of their low toxicity, large abundance, and high biocompatibility. However, relatively, very few nanoparticle supply structures dependent on starch are recorded [
135]. Continuation of the cell-, tissue-, or disease-specific release of therapeutic nanoparticles is a potentially powerful technology. Xiao et al. (2012) reported a drug known to maintain 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) antitumor loading and release of the new drug carriers/dialdehyde starch nanoparticles (DASNP). The aldehyde group that significantly enhanced breast cancer cell inhibition (MCF-7) was conjugating 5-Fu, the model medicine, into nanoparticles [
136].