Rational cyclodextrin selection for cinnamon essential oil encapsulation: Performance regulation based on...

Area of Science:

• Food Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Physical Chemistry

Background:

• Cinnamon essential oil (CEO) is volatile and complex, requiring stabilization.
• Cyclodextrins (CDs) are known for their ability to form inclusion complexes (ICs) with volatile compounds.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the encapsulation feasibility of α-, β-, and γ-cyclodextrins (CD) for cinnamon essential oil (CEO).
• To investigate the physical properties, stabilization, and formation of CEO-CD inclusion complexes (ICs).

Main Methods:

• Co-precipitation method for forming inclusion complexes.
• Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for chemical analysis.
• Molecular docking and Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations for interaction analysis.

Main Results:

• β-CD/CEO IC achieved 97.61% encapsulation efficiency; γ-CD/CEO IC had the highest loading capacity (125.81 mg·g⁻¹).
• Cavity size influenced selectivity: α-CD favored o-Methoxycinnamaldehyde, while β- and γ-CD favored (E)-Cinnamaldehyde.
• α-CD/CEO IC demonstrated superior thermal/antioxidant stability, solubility, and rapid release, with binding energies following α > β > γ-CD.

Conclusions:

• Cyclodextrin type significantly impacts encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, and selectivity of CEO components.
• α-CD/CEO IC offers promising characteristics for flavor preservation and controlled release applications.
• Intermolecular forces, primarily van der Waals and hydrogen bonding, govern the stability of CEO-CD inclusion complexes.