Department of Food Science, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA 01003, USA.
Adv Colloid Interface Sci. 2017 Feb;240:31-59. doi: 10.1016/j.cis.2016.12.005. Epub 2016 Dec 16.
Biopolymer microgels have considerable potential for their ability to encapsulate, protect, and release bioactive components. Biopolymer microgels are small particles (typically 100nm to 1000μm) whose interior consists of a three-dimensional network of cross-linked biopolymer molecules that traps a considerable amount of solvent. This type of particle is also sometimes referred to as a nanogel, hydrogel bead, biopolymer particles, or microsphere. Biopolymer microgels are typically prepared using a two-step process involving particle formation and particle gelation. This article reviews the major constituents and fabrication methods that can be used to prepare microgels, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages. It then provides an overview of the most important characteristics of microgel particles (such as size, shape, structure, composition, and electrical properties), and describes how these parameters can be manipulated to control the physicochemical properties and functional attributes of microgel suspensions (such as appearance, stability, rheology, and release profiles). Finally, recent examples of the utilization of biopolymer microgels to encapsulate, protect, or release bioactive agents, such as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, enzymes, flavors, and probiotics is given.
生物聚合物微凝胶具有封装、保护和释放生物活性成分的巨大潜力。生物聚合物微凝胶是小颗粒（通常为 100nm 至 1000μm），其内部由交联生物聚合物分子的三维网络组成，该网络捕获了相当数量的溶剂。这种类型的颗粒有时也被称为纳米凝胶、水凝胶珠、生物聚合物颗粒或微球。生物聚合物微凝胶通常使用两步法制备，涉及颗粒形成和颗粒胶凝。本文综述了可用于制备微凝胶的主要成分和制造方法，强调了它们的优缺点。然后概述了微凝胶颗粒的最重要特性（如大小、形状、结构、组成和电性能），并描述了如何操纵这些参数来控制微凝胶悬浮液的物理化学性质和功能特性（如外观、稳定性、流变学和释放曲线）。最后，给出了生物聚合物微凝胶在封装、保护或释放生物活性物质（如药物、营养保健品、酶、香料和益生菌）方面的最新应用实例。
