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Stabilization and color protection of phycoerythrin hydrolysate through agarose oligosaccharide complexation
Zexu Li1, Jiangnan Hu1, Yifei Sun1
1State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, College of Food Science and Engineering, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, China.
Background:
Phycoerythrin has limited applications due to its sensitivity to light and heat. To enhance phycoerythrin's stability and resistance to degradation, a complex was formed between bromelain-hydrolyzed phycoerythrin (PEH) and agarose oligosaccharides (AOs).
Results:
Fluorescence analysis revealed decreasing Stern-Volmer quenching constant (Ksv) with rising temperature, indicating that AOs and PEH undergo static quenching, which quenches the intrinsic fluorescence of PEH. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) analysis revealed an increase in α-helix content from 0.1568 to 0.1653, and hydrophobic interactions and hydrogen bonding drove the interaction between AOs and PEH. In addition, the DPPH radical scavenging rate of the AOs/PEH complex increased from 67.54% for PEH to 88.67%. The AOs/PEH (50:1, molar ratio) complex exhibited a stability 1.34 times that of the untreated PEH after 60 °C treatment. Moreover, at 80 °C, the AOs/PEH complex exhibited a smaller overall color variation (ΔE < 0.1) compared to that of free PEH.
Conclusion:
These results demonstrate that combining AOs with PEH enhances the stability of PEH, which offers new insights for the application of phycoerythrin and its derivative as a natural pigment in food and coloring sectors. © 2026 Society of Chemical Industry.
