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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Albany, California » Western Regional Research Center » Healthy Processed Foods Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #378809
Research Project: New Technologies and Methodologies for Increasing Quality, Marketability and Value of Food Products and Byproducts

Location: Healthy Processed Foods Research

Title: Fabrication of pea protein nanoparticles with calcium-induced crosslinking for the stabilization and delivery of antioxidative resveratrol

Author
item FAN, YUTING - Shenzhen University
item ZENG, XIANXIE - Shenzhen University
item YI, JIANG - Shenzhen University
item Zhang, Yuzhu

Submitted to: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/22/2020
Publication Date: 2/24/2020
Citation: Fan, Y., Zeng, X., Yi, J., Zhang, Y. 2020. Fabrication of pea protein nanoparticles with calcium-induced crosslinking for the stabilization and delivery of antioxidative resveratrol. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. 152:189-198. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.02.248.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2020.02.248

Interpretive Summary: Polyphenols, vitamins, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and carotenoids are proven to possess nutritional, biological and medically prophylactic value. However, these nutraceuticals are generally hydrophobic. They are easily oxidized and degraded, making it difficult to incorporate them into functional beverages. Therefore, methods for preserving nutraceuticals during storage and processing are of great value to the food industry. Using nanoparticles as a delivery system has several advantages, including high solubility and bioavailability. Biopolymer-based nanoparticles are ideal choices for use in food systems because they are biocompatible, edible, and generally recognized as safe. Protein-based nanoparticles can be made using various approaches, including self-assembly, crossing-linking, heat-induced aggregation, and cold-gelation. Pea protein isolates (PPI) have been utilized as food-grade emulsifiers to stabilize oil-in-water nanoemulsions. Recently, PPI nanoparticles made by thermal treatment were used to prepare gel-like high internal phase Pickering emulsions. However, whether PPI nanoparticles can be used as carriers for stabilizing and delivering hydrophobic nutraceuticals remains to be investigated. In this study, the formation and stabilization mechanism of PPI nanoparticles due to protein cross-linking induced by calcium ions was evaluated with various assays. The binding between PPI nanoparticles and resveratrol (a polyphenol with antioxidant activity found mainly in peanuts, mulberries, grapes, and red wines) was also investigated, and PPI nanoparticles by calcium-ion induced protein cross-linking for RES stabilization and delivery was effectively produced for the first time. The results suggest that calcium ion induced PPI nanoparticles could be efficient, powerful nanocarriers for the delivery of RES. Such nanoparticles may also have great potential to be nanocarriers for other hydrophobic polyphenols and carotenoids in developing functional beverages.

Technical Abstract: In this study, pea protein isolate (PPI) nanoparticles were fabricated with calcium-induced cross-linking and the potential as a nano-carrier for protecting resveratrol (RES) from degradation as well as improving its antioxidant activities was investigated. Ca2+ ions concentration and pH value had significant impacts on the formation of PPI nanoparticles. Dissociation assays suggested that PPI nanoparticles were mainly formed and stabilized by Ca2+ ions induced salt-bridge, hydrophobic interaction, and hydrogen bonding. Encapsulation efficiency (EE) and Loading amount (LA) of RES in PPI nanoparticles was 74.08%, and 30.24 µg/mg protein, respectively. Fluorescence emission results suggested that the formation of RES-PPI nanoparticles was primarily driven with hydrophobic interaction. AFM results clearly indicated that both RES-PPI nanocomplexes and RES-PPI nanoparticles were nano-scale, spherical shaped and distributed uniformly. RES-PPI nanoparticles exhibited higher physicochemical stability (Z-average diameter stability and RES retention) than RES-SPI nanocomplexes. Antioxidant ability of RES can be remarkably enhanced with both PPI-based nano-delivery systems. Ca2+ ions induced PPI nanoparticles obtained in this study have the great potential as functional delivery systems for hydrophobic nutraceuticals in food, and pharmaceutical industry.