Electro-Encapsulation of Lycopene in Protein Microfiber Structure: Physicochemical and Bioaccessibility Characteristics

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 M.Sc. student, Department of Food Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

2 Professor, Department of Food Science and Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Food Nanotechnology, Research Institute of Food Science and Technology (RIFST), Mashhad, Iran

Abstract

Lycopene is a carotenoid pigment withsome special health attributes, which have attracted many researchers’ attention as a valuable ingredient. The stability of many bioactive compounds is limited due to various physicochemical and physiological processes. For this purpose, the application of different encapsulation methods for controlled release and improved stability of bioactive compounds is of great importance. In this study, the effect of various solution concentrations (15, 20, 25, 30 and 35 %w/v) on the production of zein fibers was studied. The optimized concentration was then, applied for the encapsulation process of lycopene at two levels (0.05, 0.075 %w/w). The physical and chemical properties of lycopene-containing zein fibers and the profile of lycopene release in three phases of gastrointestinal (GI) tract (mouth, stomach and small intestine) were investigated. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed that uniform, homogeneous and beads-free fibers were obtained at the optimum conditions. The lycopene loading efficiency was measured between 85.68-88.07%. The results of FTIR test indicate that the physical entrapment of lycopene in zein microfibers was successfully occurred. In addition, controlled and stable release of lycopene in the GI simulated system which shows its appropriate bioaccessibility was observed. Encapsulation using zein electrospun microfiber has the potential to serve as a targeted delivery system for lycopene. The use of this method is therefore, recommended for the encapsulation of lycopene in the food industry.

Graphical Abstract

Electro-Encapsulation of Lycopene in Protein Microfiber Structure: Physicochemical and Bioaccessibility Characteristics

Highlights

  • The optimal electrospinning conditions for the encapsulation of lycopene in zein microfibers were determined.
  • The effect of gastrointestinal (GI) tract on the electro-encapsulated lycopene was studied.
  • The electro-encapsulation of lycopene in the zein microfibers enhances its bioaccessibility. 
  • Lycopene was physically entrapped in the protein microfiber structure.

Keywords

Main Subjects


[1]         Noshad, M., Mohebbi, M., Koocheki, A., Shahidi, F. (2015). Microencapsulation of vanillin by spraydrying using soy protein isolate–maltodextrin as wall material. Flavour Fragr. J., 30(5), 387–391.
[2]         Ghorani, B.,Tucker, N. (2015). Fundamentals of electrospinning as a novel delivery vehicle for bioactive compounds in food nanotechnology. Food Hydrocoll., 51, 227–240.
[3]         Manojlović, V., Nedović, V., Kailasapathy, K., Zuidam, N. (2011). Encapsulation of Probiotics for use in Food Products. in: Zuidam, N. ,Nedović, V.(Eds.), Encapsulation Technologies for Active Food Ingredients and Food Processing,Springer.,New York, pp 269–302.
[4]         Nedovic, V., Kalusevic, A., Manojlovic, V., Levic, S., Bugarski, B. (2011). An overview of encapsulation technologies for food applications. Procedia Food Sci., 1,1806–1815.
[5]         López-Rubio, A., Sanchez, E., Wilkanowicz, S., Sanz, Y., Lagaron, J. M. (2012). Electrospinning as a useful technique for the encapsulation of living bifidobacteria in food hydrocolloids. Food Hydrocoll., 28(1), 159–167.
[6]         López-Rubio, A., Lagaron, J. M. (2012). Whey protein capsules obtained through electrospraying for the encapsulation of bioactives. Innov  Food Sci  Emerg  Technol., 13, 200–206.
[7]         Xu, X., Jiang, L., Zhou, Z., Wu, X., Wang, Y. (2012). Preparation and properties of electrospun soy protein isolate/polyethylene oxide nanofiber membranes. ACS Appl  Mater  Interfaces., 4(8), 4331–4337.
[8]         Wongsasulak, S., Patapeejumruswong, M., Weiss, J., Supaphol, P., Yoovidhya, T. (2010). Electrospinning of food-grade nanofibers from cellulose acetate and egg albumen blends. J Food Eng., 98(3), 370–376.
[9]         Bürck, J., Heissler, S., Geckle, U., Ardakani, M. F., Schneider, R., Ulrich, A. S., Kazanci, M. (2013). Resemblance of electrospun collagen nanofibers to their native structure. J  Am Chem  Soc Langmuir., 29(5), 1562–1572.
[10]      Songchotikunpan, P., Tattiyakul, J.,  Supaphol, P. (2008). Extraction and electrospinning of gelatin from fish skin. Int  J Biol  Macromol., 42(3), 247–255.
[11]      Brahatheeswaran, D., Mathew, A., Aswathy, R. G., Nagaoka, Y., Venugopal, K., Yoshida, Y., Sakthikumar, D. (2012). Hybrid fluorescent curcumin loaded zein electrospun nanofibrous scaffold for biomedical applications. Biomed  Mater., 7(4), 45001.
[12]      Nieuwland, M., Geerdink, P., Brier, P., Eijnden, P. Van Den, Henket, J. T. M. M., Langelaan, M. L. P., Martin, A. H. (2013). Food-grade electrospinning of proteins. Innov Food Sci Emerg Technol., 20, 269–275.
[13]      Kun, Y., Lule, U. S., Xiao-Lin, D. (2006). Lycopene: Its properties and relationship to human health. Food Rev Int., 22(4), 309–333.
[14]      Marze, S. (2015). Bioaccessibility of lipophilic micro-constituents from a lipid emulsion. Food Funct., 6(10), 3218–3227.
[15]      Kabak, B., Ozbey, F. (2012). Assessment of the bioaccessibility of aflatoxins from various food matrices using an in vitro digestion model, and the efficacy of probiotic bacteria in reducing bioaccessibility. J Food Compos Anal., 27(1), 21–31.
[16]       Tiwari, S. K., & Venkatraman, S. S. (2012). Importance of viscosity parameters in electrospinning: Of monolithic and core-shell fibers. Mater. Sci. Eng. C., 32(5), 1037–1042.
[17]      Torres-Giner, S., Martinez-Abad, A., Ocio, M. J., Lagaron, J. M. (2010). Stabilization of a nutraceutical omega-3 fatty acid by encapsulation in ultrathin electrosprayed zein prolamine. J Food Sci., 75(6), 69–79.
[18]      Li, Y., Lim, L.T., Kakuda, Y. (2009). Electrospun Zein Fibers as Carriers to Stabilize (−)-Epigallocatechin Gallate. J Food Sci., 74(3), C233--C240.
[19]      Miri, M. A., Movaffagh, J., Najafi, M. B. H., Najafi, M. N., Ghorani, B., Koocheki, A. (2016). Optimization of elecrospinning process of zein using central composite design. Fiber Polym., 17(5), 769–777.
[20]      Yao, C., Li, X., Song, T. (2007). Electrospinning and crosslinking of zein nanofiber mats. J Appl Polym Sci., 103(1), 380–385.
[21]      Neo, Y. P., Ray, S., Jin, J., Gizdavic-Nikolaidis, M., Nieuwoudt, M. K., Liu, D., Quek, S. Y. (2013). Encapsulation of food grade antioxidant in natural biopolymer by electrospinning technique: A physicochemical study based on zein–gallic acid system. Food Chem., 136(2), 1013–1021.
[22]      Selling, G. W., Biswas, A., Patel, A., Walls, D. J., Dunlap, C., Wei, Y. (2007). Impact of Solvent on Electrospinning of Zein and Analysis of Resulting Fibers. Macromol Chem  Phys., 208(9), 1002–1010.
[23]      Mehta, S. K., Bhawna, Bhasin, K. K.,  Kumar, A. (2009). Solubilization and conformational behavior of Zein in aqueous solution of dodecyldimethylethylammonium bromide (DDAB). Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp., 346(1), 195–201.
[24]      Neo, Y. P. (2014). Electrospinning as a Novel Encapsulation Method for Food Applications. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
[25]      Torres-Giner, S., Gimenez, E., Lagaron, J. M. (2008). Characterization of the morphology and thermal properties of Zein Prolamine nanostructures obtained by electrospinning. Food Hydrocoll, 22(4), 601–614.
[26]       Ghorani, B., Russell, S. J., Goswami, P. (2013). Controlled morphology and mechanical characterisation of electrospun cellulose acetate fibre webs. Int J Polym Sci, 1-12.
[27]      Pop, R. M., Buzoianu, A. D., Rati, I. V., Socaciu, C. (2014). Untargeted metabolomics for sea buckthorn (Hippophae Rhamnoides ssp. carpatica) berries and leaves: Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy as a rapid approach for evaluation and discrimination. Not  Bot  Hort Agrobot Cluj., 42(2), 545–550.
 [28]     Liu, D., Liu, Z., Wang, L., Zhang, C.,  Zhang, N. (2011). Nanostructured lipid carriers as novel carrier for parenteral delivery of docetaxel. Colloids Surf. B., 85(2), 262–269.
 [29]     Van Ruth, S. M.,  Roozen, J. P. (2000). Influence of mastication and saliva on aroma release in a model mouth system. Food Chem., 71, 339–345.
 [30]     Zhang, R., Zhang, Z., Zou, L., Xiao, H., Zhang, G., Decker, E. A., McClements, D. J. (2016). Enhancement of carotenoid bioaccessibility from carrots using excipient emulsions: influence of particle size of digestible lipid droplets. Food  Funct, 7(1), 93–103.
 [31]     Salvia-Trujillo, L.,  McClements, D. J. (2016). Enhancement of lycopene bioaccessibility from tomato juice using excipient emulsions: Influence of lipid droplet size. Food Chem., 210, 295–304.
[32]      Miekus, M., Alminger, M., Alvito, P., Balance, S., Bohn, T., Bourlieu, C., Brodkorb, A. (2014). A standardisd static in vitro digstion method suitable for food - an international consensus. Food Func., 5(6), 1113-1124.
[33]  Fish, W. W., Perkins-Veazie, P., Collins, J. K. (2002). A Quantitative Assay for Lycopene That Utilizes Reduced Volumes of Organic Solvents. J. Food Compos  Anal., 15(3), 309–317.
[34]      Miyoshi, T., Toyohara, K., & Minematsu, H. (2005). Preparation of ultrafine fibrous zein membranes via electrospinning. Polym Int., 54(8), 1187–1190.
[35]      Ramakrishna, S. (2005). An Introduction to Electrospinning and Nanofibers,1st ed.,World Scientific,Singapore.
[36]       Nezarati, R. M., Eifert, M. B., Cosgriff-Hernandez, E. (2013). Effects of Humidity and Solution Viscosity on Electrospun Fiber Morphology. Tissue Eng Part C Methods., 19(10), 810–819.
[37]      Mit-uppatham, C., Nithitanakul, M., Supaphol, P. (2004). Ultratine electrospun polyamide-6 fibers: Effect of solution conditions on morphology and average fiber diameter . Macromol Chem Phys, 205(17), 2327–2338.
[38]      Reneker, D. H., Yarin, A. L., Fong, H.,  Koombhongse, S. (2000). Bending instability of electrically charged liquid jets of polymer solutions in electrospinning. J  Appl Phys., 87(9), 4531–4547.
[39]      De Nardo, T., Shiroma-Kian, C., Halim, Y., Francis, D., Rodriguez-Saona, L. E. (2009). Rapid and simultaneous determination of lycopene and β-carotene contents in tomato juice by infrared spectroscopy. J Agr Food Chem., 57(4), 1105–1112.
[40]      Wilkerson, E. D., Anthon, G. E., Barrett, D. M., Sayajon, G. F. G., Santos, A. M.,  Rodriguez-saona, L. E. (2015). Rapid Assessment of Quality Parameters in Processing Tomatoes Using Hand-Held and Benchtop Infrared Spectrometers and Multivariate Analysis. J Agric Food Chem, 61(9), 2088–95.
 [41]     Heikkila, P.,  Harlin, A. (2008). Parameter study of electrospinning of polyamide-6. Eur Polym J., 44,3067-3079.
[42]      Pérez-Masiá, R., Lagaron, J. M., Lopez-Rubio, A. (2015). Morphology and Stability of Edible Lycopene-Containing Micro- and Nanocapsules Produced Through Electrospraying and Spray Drying. Foo Bioprocess Tech., 8(2), 459–470.
[43]      Xiao, D., Davidson, P. M.,  Zhong, Q. (2011). Release and antilisterial properties of nisin from zein capsules spray-dried at different temperatures. LWT - Food Sci Tech., 44(10), 1977–1985.
[44]      Molina, E., Papadopoulou, A.,  Ledward, D. A. (2001). Emulsifying properties of high pressure treated soy protein isolate and 7S and 11S globulins. Food Hydrocoll., 15(3), 263–269.
[45]      Cui, C., Zhao, M., Yuan, B., Zhang, Y.,  Ren, J. (2013). Effect of pH and pepsin limited hydrolysis on the structure and functional properties of soybean protein hydrolysates. J Food Sci., 78(12), 1871–1877.
[46]       Kong, X., Zhou, H., Qian, H. (2007). Enzymatic hydrolysis of wheat gluten by proteases and properties of the resulting hydrolysates. Food Chem., 102(3), 759–763.
[47]      McClements, D. J.,  Xiao, H. (2014). Excipient foods: designing food matrices that improve the oral bioavailability of pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals. Food Funct., 5(7), 1320–1333.
[48]        Anese, M., Mirolo, G., Beraldo, P.,  Lippe, G. (2013). Effect of ultrasound treatments of tomato pulp on microstructure and lycopene in vitro bioaccessibility. Food Chem., 136(2), 458–463.
[49]        Zimmerman, M.,  Snow, B. (2012). An Introduction to Nutrition.1st ed., The Creative Commons,USA, pp 296-299.
[50]      Singh, H., Ye, A.,  Horne, D. (2009). Structuring food emulsions in the gastrointestinal tract to modify lipid digestion. Prog  Lipid Res., 48(2), 92–100.
[51]      Krinsky, N I., Cornwell, D G. Oncley, J. L. (1958). The transport of vitamin A and carotenoids in human plasma. Arch Biochem  Biophys., 73(1), 233–246.
[52]      Parker, R. (1996). Absorption, metabolism, and transport of carotenoids. FASEB J., 10, 542–51.