Effect of incorporating modified pinhão starch in alginate-based hydrogel beads for encapsulation of bioactive...

Known for its antioxidant properties, Araucaria angustifolia bracts extract was encapsulated using hydrodynamic electrospray ionization jetting within calcium alginate cross-linked hydrogel beads with varying contents of modified pinhão starch. The rheological properties of the dispersions and analysis of the physicochemical and digestive properties of encapsulated beads were studied. The results demonstrated that dispersions containing starch exhibited higher viscosity and reduced compliance values, indicating samples with stronger, more compact, and stable structures that are less susceptible to deformation. This was confirmed by the beads rupture strength test. The ATR-FTIR analysis suggest that no new chemical bonds were formed, with encapsulation being responsible only for physical interactions between the functional groups of the polymers used and the active groups of the compounds present in the extract. The thermal stability of starch-containing beads was higher. Total tannins were higher in beads containing starch, with 53.61 %, 56.83 %, and 66.99 % encapsulation yield for samples with 2 %, 4 %, and 6 % starch, respectively, and the remaining antioxidant activity ranged from 96.04 % to 81.08 %. In vitro gastrointestinal digestion simulation indicated that the highest releases occurred in the intestinal phase, ranging from 60.72 % to 63.50 % for the release of total phenolic compounds.