Méndez D A, Schroeter B, Martínez-Abad A, Fabra M J, Gurikov P, López-Rubio A
Food Safety and Preservation Department, Institute of Agrochemistry and Food Technology (IATA-CSIC), Valencia, Spain.
Institute for Thermal Separation Processes, Hamburg University of Technology, Eißendorfer Straße 38, 21073 Hamburg, Germany.
Carbohydr Polym. 2023 Apr 15;306:120604. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120604. Epub 2023 Jan 21.
In this work, nanostructured pectin aerogels were prepared via a sol-gel process and subsequent drying under supercritical conditions. To this end, three commercially available citrus pectins and an in-house produced and enzymatically modified watermelon rind pectin (WRP) were compared. Then, the effect of pectin's structure and composition on the aerogel properties were analysed and its potential application as a delivery system was explored by impregnating them with vanillin. Results showed that the molecular weight, degree of esterification and branching degree of the pectin samples played a main role in the production of hydrogels and subsequent aerogels. The developed aerogel particles showed high specific surface areas (468-584 m/g) and low bulk density (0.025-0.10 g/cm). The shrinkage effect during aerogel formation was significantly affected by the pectin concentration and structure, while vanillin loading in aerogels and its release profile was also seen to be influenced by the affinity between pectin and vanillin. Furthermore, the results highlight the interest of WRP as a carrier of active compounds which might have potential application in food and biomedical areas, among others.
在本研究中，通过溶胶 - 凝胶法并随后在超临界条件下干燥制备了纳米结构果胶气凝胶。为此，比较了三种市售柑橘果胶和一种自制的经酶改性的西瓜皮果胶（WRP）。然后，分析了果胶的结构和组成对气凝胶性能的影响，并通过用香草醛浸渍来探索其作为递送系统的潜在应用。结果表明，果胶样品的分子量、酯化度和支化度在水凝胶及后续气凝胶的制备中起主要作用。所制备的气凝胶颗粒具有高比表面积（468 - 584 m/g）和低堆积密度（0.025 - 0.10 g/cm）。气凝胶形成过程中的收缩效应受果胶浓度和结构的显著影响，而气凝胶中香草醛的负载量及其释放曲线也受果胶与香草醛之间亲和力的影响。此外，结果突出了WRP作为活性化合物载体的价值，其可能在食品和生物医学等领域具有潜在应用。
