Design and Characterization of Peptide-Based Self-Assembling Microgel for Encapsulation of Sesaminol

Sesaminol is a natural functional compound of sesame with low bioaccessibility due to its high crystallinity. Here, a peptide-based self-assembly microgel was constructed to encapsulate sesaminol, reducing its crystallinity and improving its bioaccessibility. In this contribution, the peptide AcNH-Leu-Tyr-Tyr-CONH₂ (LYY) was shown to form a mesoporous three-dimensional (3D) microgel through microstructure characterization. Various characterization methods revealed that the LYY peptide self-assembled through β-folds and random coils, and the primary intermolecular interactions arose from hydrogen bonding and the π-π stacking effect. Subsequently, sesaminol was encapsulated within the microgel through co-assembly. The maximum encapsulation efficiency of sesaminol was 80.8 ± 0.9%, mainly in the form of nanoparticles encapsulated in microgel by morphology characterization. The XRD results indicated that sesaminol primarily existed in an amorphous state following encapsulation. The cumulative release indicated that sesaminol had a sustained release effect in the encapsulation system. Its bioaccessibility and antioxidant levels were increased. Molecular docking indicated that the main interactions between sesaminol and the self-assembled structure were hydrogen bonding and π-π interactions. Establishing sesaminol encapsulation provides valuable data and theoretical support for the research of sesaminol and the sesame processing industry.