Spray drying the Pickering emulsions stabilized by chitosan/ovalbumin polyelectrolyte complexes for the production of oxidation stable tuna oil microcapsules.

The microencapsulation of polysaturated fatty acids by spray drying remains a challenge due to their susceptibility to oxidation. In this work, antioxidant Pickering emulsions were attempted as feeds to produce oxidation stable tuna oil microcapsules. The results indicated that the association between chitosan (CS) and ovalbumin (OVA) was a feasible way to fabricate antioxidant and wettable complexes and a high CS percentage favored these properties. The particles could yield tuna oil Pickering emulsions with enhanced oxidation stability through high-pressure homogenization, which were successfully spray dried to produce microcapsules with surface oil content of 8.84 % and microencapsulation efficiency of 76.65 %. The microcapsules exhibited significantly improved oxidation stability and their optimum peroxide values after storage at 50 °C, 85 % relative humidity, or natural light for 15 d were 48.67 %, 60.07 %, and 39.69 % respectively lower than the powder derived from the OVA-stabilized emulsion. Hence, Pickering emulsions stabilized by the CS/OVA polyelectrolyte complexes are potential in the production of oxidation stable polyunsaturated fatty acid microcapsules by spray drying.

Antibacterial activity of lysozyme after association with carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan.

The unique high isoelectric point of lysozyme (LYZ) restricts its application in composite antibacterial coating due to the unfavorable liability to electrostatic interaction with other components. In this work, the antibacterial activity of a dispersible LYZ-carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan (CMKGM) polyelectrolyte complex was evaluated. Kinetic analysis revealed that, compared with free LYZ, the complexed enzyme exhibited decreased affinity (Km) but markedly increased Vmax against Micrococcus lysodeikticus, and QCM and dynamic light scattering analysis confirmed that the complex could bind with the substrate but in a much lower ratio. The complexation with CMKGM did not alter the antibacterial spectrum of LYZ, and the complex exerted antibacterial function by delaying the logarithmic growth phase and impairing the cell integrity of Staphylococcus aureus. Since the LYZ-CMKGM complex is dispersible in water and could be assembled easily, it has great potential as an edible coating in food preservation.

Interfacial adsorption behavior of the Aspergillus oryzae lipase-chitosan complex and stability evaluation of the resultant Pickering emulsion.

To prompt the application of the chitosan (CS)-Aspergillus oryzae lipase (AOL) complex in the construction of novel biphasic catalysis medium, its Pickering emulsion stabilization ability as well as adsorption behavior in the oil-water interface were investigated and the stability of resultant emulsion was evaluated. The results indicated that the CS-AOL complex assembled in mass ratio 1:5 was an effective Pickering stabilizer and up to 90 % AOL could be retained in the emulsion interface. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring suggested that the CS-AOL complex spontaneously absorbed to oil-water interface; absorption dynamics analysis revealed that the adsorption was driven by diffusion accompanied by rapid structural rearrangement; while interfacial dilatational rheology demonstrated the formation of an elastic film in the oil-water interface. The Pickering emulsions were pseudoplastic and that in oil fraction 0.6 exhibited the elastic behavior in contrast to the viscous behavior in oil fractions 0.2 and 0.4. The Pickering emulsion exhibited excellent stability against storage for up to 28 d, pHs 2.0-12.0, heating at 25-90 °C, and up to 500 mmol/L NaCl, and the corresponding interfacial AOL retentions exceeded 80 % during exposure to these conditions. Hence, the CS-AOL complex could be used as a stabilizer to construct Pickering emulsion-based biphasic catalysis systems.

Addition of Chelators Increased the Stability of Black Rice Anthocyanins against the Metallic Ions in Tap Water and Improved the Coloration of Steamed Cold Noodles.

The anthocyanins in black rice extract (BRA) are sensitive to metallic ions, which restrict its application in the coloration of steamed cold noodles in China that uses tap water as the solvent. Food-grade chelators were added to check if they could increase the stability of BRA. The results indicated that the color decay of BRA in tap water was mainly caused by Fe3+, Cu2+, and Fe2+, and the addition of chelators could effectively antagonize this effect. Coloration with the BRA solution containing the optimized chelator formulation of 0.01% ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium, 0.08% sodium hexametaphosphate, and 0.064% sodium tartrate conferred comparable appearance and chromatic attributes with those of the noodle colored by deionized water-dissolved BRA. The steamed cold noodles colored by the chelators-containing BRA exhibited increased springiness and decreased starch retrogradation, and possessed potential health functions due to its slightly increased resistant starch content and markedly enhanced antioxidant capacity. Hence, the addition of chelators is a feasible way to increase the color stability of BRA in tap water, and the chelators-supplemented BRA could be used to produce steamed cold noodles with attractive color and health benefits.

Preparation of powdered oil by spray drying the Pickering emulsion stabilized by ovalbumin - Gum Arabic polyelectrolyte complex.

The suitability of the perilla seed oil Pickering emulsion stabilized by the ovalbumin (OVA) - gum Arabic (GA) polyelectrolyte complex for spray drying was investigated and the resultant powder was characterized. The OVA - GA complex conferred enhanced stability to the emulsion than OVA, GA, and their mixture. The viscosity of the Pickering emulsion was highly sensitive to stabilizer concentration and that fabricated by 2% OVA - GA complex showed acceptable viscosity and powder yield. The Pickering emulsion was more effective in preventing oil leakage during spray drying than the OVA-stabilized emulsion and the resultant powder possessed an oil content of up to 77.7%. Besides, the spray-dried Pickering emulsion powder showed greater rehydration and better flowability than that of the OVA-stabilized emulsion powder. Hence, the Pickering emulsion stabilized by the OVA - GA polyelectrolyte complex is promising as a novel feed for the production of oil powders by spray drying.

Fabrication of lipase-loaded particles by coacervation with chitosan.

Coacervation of the lipase from Aspergillus oryzae (AOL) with chitosan was a feasible way to fabricate lipase-loaded particles and the optimum conditions were phase separation pH 5.5, chitosan to AOL mass ratio 1:5, and temperature 25 °C in the absence of NaCl, which conferred an AOL loading efficiency of up to 95.48% and activity recovery of 69.60%. The AOL-chitosan coacervates were highly porous and more susceptible to weight loss upon heating. Coacervation with chitosan increased the activity of AOL and shifted its optimum pH from 7.0 to 6.0, but exerted no effect on its optimum temperature (45 °C). Thermal deactivation kinetics analysis revealed that the coacervated AOL was more thermal stable, while the Michaelis-Menten kinetics analysis indicated that coacervation with chitosan increased the Vmax of AOL by 2.4 folds, but decreased its substrate affinity by 3.6 folds. Hence, the AOL-chitosan coacervates are potential in the construction of Pickering emulsion-based lipase catalysis systems.

Release of Leu-Pro-Pro from corn gluten meal by fermentation with a Lactobacillus helveticus strain.

BACKGROUND: Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory peptides are potential alternatives to the synthetic ACE inhibitory drugs, but the in vivo antihypertensive effects of most of them have not been confirmed. The tripeptide Leu-Pro-Pro (LPP) is one of the few peptides that have been proved clinically effective in reducing the blood pressure of hypertensive patients and casein is currently its major source. LPP is contained in multiple fractions of zein, and corn gluten meal (CGM) is hence a potential new source of LPP. For this purpose, CGM was fermented with a Lactobacillus helveticus strain and the medium composition was optimized; the decoloration of the resultant hydrolysate was investigated as well. RESULTS: LPP could be successfully released from CGM by fermentation with the strain Lactobacillus helveticus CICC 22536. The highest LPP content and protein recovery of 561 mg kg-1 and 14.92% occurred in the medium containing 20 g L-1 glucose, 15 g L-1 beef extract, 60 g L-1 CGM, 10 g L-1 CaCO3 , 0.5 g L-1 NaCl, and inoculation amount 6%. The supplementation of Flavourzyme® further improved the two parameters to 662 mg kg-1 and 36.94%, respectively. The permeate of the hydrolysate after ultrafiltration through a 5 kDa membrane could be effectively decolored by the macroporous resin XAD-16 without notable protein loss, and its LPP content was further boosted to 743 mg kg-1 . CONCLUSION: CGM is a potential new source of LPP and its ultrafiltered and decolored hydrolysate could be used to develop new antihypertensive functional foods. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.

Carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan coating on multilayered emulsions for improved bioavailability and targeted delivery of curcumin.

Curcumin was entrapped in multilayered emulsions to increase its stability and bioavailability. Curcumin emulsion stabilized by whey protein isolate (WPI) was coated with chitosan (CHI) or carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan (CMKGM) alone to form secondary emulsions and their combination in sequence to form the tertiary emulsion, in which, the polyelectrolyte concentrations were 1.0% WPI for the primary emulsion, 0.4% CMKGM for the secondary emulsion -CMKGM, 0.2% CHI for the secondary emulsion -CHI, and 0.1% CMKGM for the tertiary emulsion. The characteristics of the emulsions, including their particle size, ζ potential, microstructure, creaming stability, and biopolymer distribution, were investigated and their colon-targeted delivery potential was evaluated through both in vitro and in vivo studies as well. The curcumin-loaded secondary and tertiary emulsions were stable with a narrow size distribution and were generated by layer-by-layer assembly according to confocal laser scanning microscope observation. When CMKGM was located at the outermost layer, the corresponding secondary and tertiary emulsions showed a greatly reduced release of curcumin in the simulated gastric fluid, but exhibited increased release in the ß-mannanase-containing simulated colonic fluid. In vivo evaluation in mice demonstrated that the bioavailability of curcumin in the CMKGM-coated secondary and tertiary emulsions was increased by about 4 folds compared with that of free curcumin and curcumin could be released in a sustainable manner. These results demonstrated that multilayered emulsions coated with CMKGM could promote curcumin absorption in the gastrointestinal tract and hence is a promising colon-targeted delivery system for curcumin.

Research on the mechanism of microwave-toughened starch on glucolipid metabolism in mice.

Potato resistant starch (RS) was prepared by microwave-toughening treatment (MTT). This study investigated the beneficial effects of RS on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced hyperlipidemia in C57BL/6J mice by evaluating changes in the gut microbiota. The mice were fed low-fat diet with corn starch, HFD with corn starch, HFD with potato starch (HFP), or HFD with RS (HFR) for 6 weeks. The results showed that the HFR group had lower body weight and total cholesterol, triglyceride, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels compared with the HFP group. Moreover, the brown adipose tissue levels of uncoupling protein 1 (UCP-1), ß3-adrenoceptor (ß3-AR), peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ), and PPAR-γ coactivator-1α (PGC-1α) were increased. Our results showed that RS supplementation increased the Bacteroidetes/Firmicutes ratio and the abundance of short-chain fatty acid-producing Allobaculum, Ruminococcus, and Blautia. Our data suggest that RS prepared by MTT may be used as a prebiotic agent to prevent gut dysbiosis and obesity-related chronic diseases, such as hyperlipidemia, and obesity.

Maillard reaction in protein - polysaccharide coacervated microcapsules and its effects on microcapsule properties.

The occurrence of Maillard reaction in protein - polysaccharide coacervated microcapsules and its effects on microcapsule properties were investigated. Vitamin E microcapsules were prepared by soybean protein isolate - chitosan coacervation at 50 °C, 70 °C, or 90 °C for 12 h in the presence of maltose. Chromatic and furosine measurements revealed that Maillard reaction occurred in the microcapsules and was favored by high incubation temperatures. The three coacervation temperatures did not destroy the microcapsule structure, but improved the microencapsulation efficiency and microencapsulation yield instead. The microcapsules exhibited decreased aggregation and the increased absolute zeta potential and particle size were believed contribute to this improvement. Stability analysis demonstrated that the microcapsules possessed enhanced resistance to dissolution in water and improved storage stability than control microcapsules. It is concluded that coacervation at a temperature high enough to initiate Maillard reaction is a promising way to improve the physiochemical properties of protein - polysaccharide coacervated microcapsules.

Intestine-targeted delivery potency of O-carboxymethyl chitosan-coated layer-by-layer microcapsules: An in vitro and in vivo evaluation.

The intestine-targeted delivery performance of the gum Arabic (GA) - O-carboxymethyl chitosan (OCMC) microcapsules prepared by layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly and genipin crosslinking was evaluated by using an acid-susceptible compound omeprazole as the model. Confocal laser scanning microscope observation revealed that spherical microcapsules with the core-shell structure were successful fabricated. Genipin crosslinking did not affect the microencapsulation yield or drug load, but significantly decreased the particle size and positive charge of the microcapsules, and increased their stability against disintegration in the simulated gastric fluid. Pharmacokinetic analysis indicated that entrapment by GA - OCMC LbL assembly greatly improved the bioavailability of omeprazole and crosslinking by 0.1 mg/mL genipin led to the highest value of 8.76 relative to the control formulation. It was concluded that the GA - OCMC LbL microcapsules could be used for the oral delivery of nutraceuticals and its delivery performance could be tailored by varying the genipin crosslinking degree.

Comparative study on the Maillard reaction of chitosan oligosaccharide and glucose with soybean protein isolate.

Chitosan oligosaccharide (COS) has multiple biological properties and is hence promising in the modification of proteins through Mallard reaction. Its susceptibility to the reaction with soybean protein isolate (SPI) was evaluated by comparing with glucose (Glu). Conjugation with COS led to milder color change, less furosine and hydroxymethyl furfural formation, and fewer lysine/arginine consumption than with Glu, implying that COS was less susceptible to the Maillard reaction with SPI than Glu. Intrinsic fluorescence analysis indicated that different intermediate products were generated in the SPI-Glu and SPI-COS conjugates and the former intermediates were more prone to condensation to brown pigments. SDS-PAGE illustrated that COS inclined to conjugate with the small subunits of SPI. Conjugation with COS caused SPI unfolding and improved its emulsifying activity. Hence, COS has great potential in the modification of proteins through Maillard reaction and other attributes of the resultant conjugates, such as antioxidant and antibacterial activities, deserve further study.

Complex coacervation of carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan and chitosan and coacervate characterization.

Carboxymethyl konjac glucomannan (CMKGM) shows potential in the construction of colon-targeted delivery systems through electrostatic interaction-based techniques. Its coacervation with chitosan (CHI) was investigated as a function of degree of substitution (DS). CMKGMs displayed the same optimum coacervation conditions of pH 6.5 and mass ratio 1:1 with CHI, but the coacervate yield was positively related to their DS. The coacervation was weakened by the presence of NaCl, but was not affected in temperatures 25-75 °C and total biopolymer concentrations 0.05-0.15% (w/v). Both electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding were involved in the coacervation and a higher DS contributed a denser network structure, a smaller particle size, and greater elasticity. The coacervates maintained their structures in simulated gastrointestinal fluids, but could be degraded by the ß-mannanase in simulated colonic fluid. Hence, CMKGMs could be used in colon-targeted and enzyme-triggered delivery systems and the delivery performance could be tailored by varying their DS.

pH-Dependent intestine-targeted delivery potency of the O-carboxymethyl chitosan - gum Arabic coacervates.

Bovine serum albumin (BSA)-loaded microcapsules were prepared at pH 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 through O-carboxymethyl (O-CMC) - gum Arabic (GA) coacervation followed by genipin crosslinking to explore the effects of coacervation acidity on the intestine-targeted delivery potency of resultant microcapsules. Confocal laser scanning microscope observation revealed that microcapsules with the multilayer structure were successfully prepared. As the coacervation pH rose from 3.0 to 6.0, the amount of O-CMC deposited on the microcapsule surface and the particle size increased accordingly. Swelling and BSA release results indicated that coacervation at higher pH conferred greater stability against simulated gastric fluid and better intestine-targeted delivery potency to the microcapsules. Circular dichroism analysis demonstrated that the structural integrity of entrapped BSA was well maintained during microencapsulation and incubation in simulated gastrointestinal fluids. Hence, genipin-crosslinked O-CMC - GA coacervates could be used to deliver nutraceuticals to the intestine and its delivery performance could be tailored by varying the coacervation pH.

Efficacy of potato resistant starch prepared by microwave-toughening treatment.

Potato starch was treated by microwaving, toughening, and low-temperature aging to prepare resistant starch (RS). The functional properties of the resultant RS were evaluated and the effects of this microwave-toughening treatment (MTT) on the amylose content, RS content, digestive properties, pasting properties, morphological observation, crystal structure, and thermal performance of potato starch were determined. The optimal MTT parameters were microwaving at 300 W for 100 s, toughening at 55 °C for 16 h, and low-temperature aging at 4 °C for 18 h. After MTT, the amylose and RS contents of potato starch had increased from 26.08% and 11.54% to 35.06% and 27.09%, respectively. Furthermore, the pasting temperature increased from 66.8 °C to 76.36 °C, while the peak viscosity, trough viscosity, and final viscosity decreased significantly. After MTT, the potato starch surface had also changed significantly, and the crystallinity had increased from 32.43% to 51.36%. MTT starch had beneficial effects on fasting blood glucose, body weight, and organ index in mice. Furthermore, it had a protective effect on subcutaneous abdominal fat and liver tissue.

Intestine-targeted delivery potency of the O-carboxymethyl chitosan-gum Arabic coacervate: Effects of coacervation acidity and possible mechanism.

The potential of the glutaraldehyde-crosslinked O-carboxymethyl chitosan (O-CMC)-gum Arabic (GA) coacervate as an intestine-targeted delivery system for hydrophobic compounds was concerned. OCMC-GA coacervates and emulsified bovine serum albumin (BSA)-loaded microcapsules were prepared in pH3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 and their swelling behaviors as well as BSA release profiles in simulated gastrointestinal fluids were measured. All the coacervates showed higher swelling ratios in the simulated gastric solution than in the simulated intestine and colon solutions and the values increased as the coacervation pH increased from 3.0 to 6.0, but a reversed trend was observed for the BSA release profile. SEM, TEM, and CLSM analysis revealed that the coacervation acidity influenced the swelling and BSA release behavior by changing the matrix density and O-CMC content of the coacervates. It was concluded that the O-CMC-GA coacervate could be used to deliver hydrophobic compounds to the intestine and its delivery performance could be tailored by selecting appropriate coacervation acidity and crosslinking degree.

Effect of coacervation conditions on the viscoelastic properties of N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan - gum Arabic coacervates.

The effects of coacervation acidity, phase separation temperature, ionic strength, and biopolymer ratio on the viscoelasticity of the N,O-carboxymethyl chitosan (NOCC) - gum Arabic (GA) coacervate were investigated by using coacervate yield as the indicator of electrostatic interaction strength. The strongest interaction between NOCC and GA occurred at pH 3.0, whereas the highest modulus values were found in the coacervate separated at pH 6.0. The coacervate yield did not vary with phase separation temperature in the range 4-55°C, but the coacervate viscoelasticity declined as the temperature increased from 25°C to 45°C and then peaked at 55°C. The presence of NaCl weakened the electrostatic interaction between the two polyelectrolytes, but no dose-dependent reduction in viscoelasticity was observed for their coacervates. Besides, the highest electrostatic interaction strength and coacervate viscoelasticity were recorded at different GA to NOCC ratios. It is proposed that the strength of electrostatic interaction is not the only parameter that determines the viscoelasticity of the NOCC - GA coacervate.

Genipin-crosslinked O-carboxymethyl chitosan-gum Arabic coacervate as a pH-sensitive delivery system and microstructure characterization.

The possibility of genipin-crosslinked O-carboxymethyl chitosan-gum Arabic coacervate as a pH-sensitive delivery vehicle was investigated. O-carboxymethyl chitosan-gum Arabic coacervates separated in pH 3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 were crosslinked by genipin for different durations and the crosslinked products were subjected to crosslinking degree, swelling behavior, bovine serum albumin release profile, and microstructure characterization. Genipin-crosslinking greatly improved the stability of the coacervates against the simulated gastric solution and created certain pH-sensitivity. The coacervates displayed higher swelling ratios in the simulated gastric solution than in the simulated intestine and colon solutions; meanwhile, the coacervates prepared in pH 4.5 and 6.0 swelled more severely than the complex separated in pH 3.0. Nevertheless, the bovine serum albumin release in the simulated gastric solution from the microcapsules prepared in pH 6.0 was much lower than those prepared in pH 4.5 and 3.0, whose cumulative release percentages in the three simulated solutions were 17.14%, 55.23%, and 79.79%, respectively, in crosslinking duration 2 h. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy analysis revealed that genipin-crosslinking improved the regularity and compactness of coacervate structure, whereas confocal laser scanning microscopy observation indicated that O-carboxymethyl chitosan content was possibly the major reason for the different swelling and bovine serum albumin release behavior of the coacervates. It was concluded that the genipin-crosslinked O-carboxymethyl chitosan-gum Arabic coacervate was a potential intestine-targeted delivery system and its delivery performance could be tailored by varying the crosslinking degree and coacervation acidity.

Hydrostable and Nitryl/Methyl-Functionalized Metal-Organic Framework for Drug Delivery and Highly Selective CO2 Adsorption.

By using a strategy of introducing hydrophobic groups to the linkers, a hydrostable MOF was constructed based on 5-nitroisophthalate and 2,2'-dimethyl-4,4'-bipyridine coligands, revealing a 3D dia topology structure with a 1D channel parallel to the c axis. TGA, PXRD, and water vapor sorption results show high thermal and water stability for the framework. The framework is very porous and possesses not only high busulfan payloads with an encapsulation efficiency up to 21.5% (17.2 wt %) but also very high CO2 selective capture compared with that of other small gases (i.e., CH4, N2, O2, CO, and H2) at 298 K based on molecular simulations due to the pore surface being populated by methyl and nitryl groups. Furthermore, in vitro MTT assays were conducted on four different cells lines with increasing concentrations of the framework, and the results showed that the framework was nontoxic (cell viability >80%) in spite of the concentrations up to 500 µg/mL.

Complex coacervation of soybean protein isolate and chitosan.

The formation of coacervates between soybean protein isolate (SPI) and chitosan was investigated by turbidimetric analysis and coacervate yield determination as a function of pH, temperature, time, ionic strength, total biopolymer concentration (TB(conc)) and protein to polysaccharide ratio (R(SPI/Chitosan)). The interaction between SPI and chitosan yielded a sponge-like coacervate phase and the optimum conditions for their coacervation were pH 6.0-6.5, a temperature of 25 °C, and a R(SPI/Chitosan) ratio of four independently of TB(conc). NaCl inhibited the complexation between the two biopolymers. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed that the coacervates were formed through the electrostatic interaction between the carboxyl groups of SPI (-COO(-)) and the amine groups of chitosan (-NH(3)(+)), however hydrogen bonding was also involved in the coacervation. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermograms indicated raised denaturation temperature and network thermal stability of SPI in the coacervates due to SPI-chitosan interactions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs revealed that the coacervates had a porous network structure interspaced by heterogeneously sized vacuoles.