Balanč Bojana, Salević-Jelić Ana, Đorđević Verica, Bugarski Branko, Nedović Viktor, Petrović Predrag, Knežević-Jugović Zorica
Innovation Centre of Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy, University of Belgrade, Karnegijeva 4, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia.
Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, Nemanjina 6, 11080 Beograd, Serbia.
Foods. 2024 May 18;13(10):1576. doi: 10.3390/foods13101576.
Nanofibers made of natural proteins have caught the increasing attention of food scientists because of their edibility, renewability, and possibility for various applications. The objective of this study was to prepare nanofibers based on pumpkin leaf protein concentrate (LPC) as a by-product from some crops and gelatin as carriers for vitamin B12 using the electrospinning technique. The starting mixtures were analyzed in terms of viscosity, density, surface tension, and electrical conductivity. Scanning electron micrographs of the obtained nanofibers showed a slight increase in fiber average diameter with the addition of LPC and vitamin B12 (~81 nm to 109 nm). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy verified the physical blending of gelatin and LPC without phase separation. Thermal analysis showed the fibers had good thermal stability up to 220 °C, highlighting their potential for food applications, regardless of the thermal processing. Additionally, the newly developed fibers have good storage stability, as detected by low water activity values ranging from 0.336 to 0.376. Finally, the release study illustrates the promising sustained release of vitamin B12 from gelatin-LPC nanofibers, mainly governed by the Fickian diffusion mechanism. The obtained results implied the potential of these nanofibers in the development of functional food products with improved nutritional profiles.
由天然蛋白质制成的纳米纤维因其可食用性、可再生性以及在各种应用中的可能性而越来越受到食品科学家的关注。本研究的目的是使用静电纺丝技术，以南瓜叶浓缩蛋白（LPC）作为某些作物的副产品，明胶作为维生素B12的载体来制备纳米纤维。对起始混合物的粘度、密度、表面张力和电导率进行了分析。所得纳米纤维的扫描电子显微镜图像显示，随着LPC和维生素B12的添加，纤维平均直径略有增加（从约81纳米增加到109纳米）。傅里叶变换红外光谱证实了明胶和LPC的物理混合且无相分离。热分析表明，这些纤维在高达220°C的温度下具有良好的热稳定性，突出了它们在食品应用中的潜力，无论热加工如何。此外，新开发的纤维具有良好的储存稳定性，通过0.336至0.376的低水分活度值检测到。最后，释放研究表明维生素B12从明胶-LPC纳米纤维中有前景的缓释，主要受菲克扩散机制控制。所得结果表明这些纳米纤维在开发具有改善营养成分的功能性食品方面具有潜力。
