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Updated: Oct 1, 2025
Generation of Alginate Microspheres for Biomedical Applications
Published on: August 12, 2012
Reducing synthetic colorants release from alginate-based liquid-core beads with a zein shell
Hongxiang Liu1, Bor-Sen Chiou2, Yun Ma3
1State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; School of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; International Joint Laboratory on Food Safety, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Biotechnology and Food Engineering Program, Guangdong Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Shantou, Guangdong 515063, China; Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 3200003, Israel.
Abstract:
An innovative method to reduce hydrophilic synthetic colorant release at interface was presented in this work, based on the anti-solvent effect at the membrane outside surface of liquid-core beads manufactured by reverse spherification between alginate and calcium ion. Zein, a hydrophobic protein which formed precipitation shell ensured the stability of colorant. Acidification of solvent made zein particles more kinetically stable, allowed zein stretching and collated more orderly secondary structures even in high polarity solvents. Colorants that hydrogen bonded or electrostatically interacted with zein could have optimized release properties. The zein/erythrosine samples had the most orderly secondary structure from circular dichroism and had the highest stability among all zein/colorant systems. The release rate of erythrosine was only 2.76% after 48 h storage after soaking in zein shell solution. This study demonstrated a promising clean and scalable strategy to encapsulate hydrophilic compounds in zein-based shells of liquid-core beads for food, supplement and pharmaceutical applications.
