177 © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 A. Husen, M. Iqbal (eds.), Nanomaterials and Plant Potential, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05569-1_6 Chapter 6 Plant Protein-Based Nanoparticles and Their Biomedical Applications Siavash Iravani and Ashutosh Kumar Shukla 6.1 Introduction The plant protein-based nanoparticles (NPs), such as soy proteins, zein, and wheat gliadins, have several benefts and are widely available, compared to the animal- derived proteins. They can be used as drug carriers for lipophilic or anticancer drugs and as delivery systems for bioactive ingredients (Wan et al. 2015; Malekzad et al. 2017). These proteins can be used to encapsulate drugs in order to protect them from a rapid degradation by environmental stress. These carriers are biodegradable and metabolizable and can be prepared under soft conditions without the use of toxic and hazardous organic solvents or materials. They can incorporate a wide variety of drugs in a relatively non-specifc fashion. Moreover, these NPs may offer various possibilities for surface modifcation and covalent attachment of drugs and ligands. Corn, wheat, and soybeans contain proteins, which are readily available, biodegradable, and considerably less allergic in contrast to animal proteins such as bovine collagen (Malekzad et al. 2017). Plant protein-based NPs can be used in drug delivery and gene delivery systems, in bioactive compound delivery, and in improve- ment of oral bioavailability of drugs. Moreover, they have applications in food industry and tissue engineering. Some important advantages of plant protein-based NPs have been summarized in Table 6.1. Plant proteins are generated as coproducts when cereal grains are processed for food or fuel and have limited non-food applications. Zein, soy proteins, and wheat proteins (gluten, gliadin, and glutenin) are the major plant proteins. Peanuts, sor- ghum, millets, and other cereal grains also contain some lesser amounts of proteins. S. Iravani Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran A. K. Shukla (*) Physics Department, Ewing Christian College, Prayagraj, UP, India