Microencapsulation of Erythrocytes Extracted from Cavia porcellus Blood in Matrices of Tara Gum and Native Potato Starch.

Ferropenic anemy is the leading iron deficiency disease in the world. The aim was to encapsulate erythrocytes extracted from the blood of Cavia porcellus, in matrices of tara gum and native potato starch. For microencapsulation, solutions were prepared with 20% erythrocytes; and encapsulants at 5, 10, and 20%. The mixtures were spray-dried at 120 and 140 °C. The iron content in the erythrocytes was 3.30 mg/g and between 2.32 and 2.05 mg/g for the encapsulates (p < 0.05). The yield of the treatments varied between 47.84 and 58.73%. The moisture, water activity, and bulk density were influenced by the temperature and proportion of encapsulants. The total organic carbon in the atomized samples was around 14%. The particles had diverse reddish tonalities, which were heterogeneous in their form and size; openings on their surface were also observed by SEM. The particle size was at the nanometer level, and the zeta potential (ζ) indicated a tendency to agglomerate and precipitation the solutions. The presence of iron was observed on the surface of the atomized by SEM-EDX, and FTIR confirmed the encapsulation due to the presence of the chemical groups OH, C-O, C-H, and N-H in the atomized. On the other hand, high percentages of iron release in vitro were obtained between 88.45 and 94.71%. The treatment with the lowest proportion of encapsulants performed at 140 °C obtained the best results and could potentially be used to fortify different functional foods.

Modified Polymeric Biosorbents from Rumex acetosella for the Removal of Heavy Metals in Wastewater.

The contamination of water resources by effluents from various industries often contains heavy metals, which cause irreversible damage to the environment and health. The objective was to evaluate different biosorbents from the weed Rumex acetosella to remove metal cations in wastewater. Drying, grinding and sieving of the stems was carried out to obtain the biomass, retaining the fractions of 250 to 500 µm and 500 to 750 µm, which served to obtain the biosorbents in natura (unmodified), acidic, alkaline, and mixed. Proximal analysis, PZC, TOC, removal capacity, influence of pH, functional groups, thermal analysis, structural characteristics, adsorption isotherms, and kinetic study were evaluated. The 250 µm mixed treatment was the one that presented the highest removal percentages, mainly due to the OH, NH, -C-H, COOH, and C-O functional groups achieving the removal of up to 96.14% of lead, 36.30% of zinc, 34.10% of cadmium and 32.50% of arsenic. For contact times of 120 min and an optimum pH of 5.0, a loss of cellulose mass of 59% at 328 °C and a change in the surface of the material were also observed, which allowed for obtaining a topography with greater chelating capacity, and the Langmuir and pseudo-second order models were better fitted to the adsorption data. The new biosorbents could be used in wastewater treatment economically and efficiently.

Obtaining and Characterizing Andean Multi-Floral Propolis Nanoencapsulates in Polymeric Matrices.

Propolis is a substance with significant anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antiviral activity, which could be used more efficiently at the nano level as an additive in the food industry. The aim was to obtain and characterize nanoencapsulated multi-floral propolis from the agro-ecological region of Apurimac, Peru. For nanoencapsulation, 5% ethanolic extracts propolis with 0.3% gum arabic and 30% maltodextrin were prepared. Then, the mixtures were dried by nano spraying at 120 °C using the smallest nebulizer. The flavonoid content was between 1.81 and 6.66 mg quercetin/g, the phenolic compounds were between 1.76 and 6.13 mg GAE/g, and a high antioxidant capacity was observed. The results of moisture, water activity, bulk density, color, hygroscopicity, solubility, yield, and encapsulation efficiency were typical of the nano spray drying process. The total organic carbon content was around 24%, heterogeneous spherical particles were observed at nanometer level (between 11.1 and 562.6 nm), with different behaviors in colloidal solution, the thermal gravimetric properties were similar in all the encapsulates, the FTIR and EDS analysis confirmed the encapsulation and the X-ray diffraction showed amorphous characteristics in the obtained material; stability and phenolic compound release studies indicated high values of 8.25-12.50 mg GAE/g between 8 and 12 h, the principal component analysis confirmed that the flora, altitude, and climate of the propolis location influenced the content of bioactive compounds, antioxidant capacity, and other properties studied. The nanoencapsulate from the district of Huancaray was the one with the best results, allowing its future use as a natural ingredient in functional foods. Nevertheless, technological, sensory, and economic studies should still be carried out.