Abstract
Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seeds contain antioxidants with great benefits for health and are widely used in the food industry. Antioxidants can be degraded by environmental factors, decreasing their biological activity. Their encapsulation in chitosan (CH) particles represents an alternative to protect them and increases their application. The encapsulation efficiency (%EE) of the antioxidants in the CH particles depends on the synthesis conditions. In this study, two methods for encapsulation of chia extract in chitosan particles were evaluated: method A, 0.05% CH in 1% acetic acid was mixed with 0.07% of tripolyphosphate (TPP) and method B, 0.3% CH in 2% acetic acid was mixed with 1% TPP. The results showed that the %EE decreased with the concentration of the extract, and the FTIR analysis suggested that the compounds of the extract were adsorbed on the surface of the particles. Dynamic light scattering and zeta potential analysis showed that the particles of method A are unstable and with a tendency to agglomerate, and the particles of method B are stable. The highest %EE was obtained with 0.2 mg·mL−1 (method A) and 1.0 mg·mL−1 (method B) of the extract. The higher loading capacity (%LC) (16–72%) was exhibited by the particles of method A. The best particle yield (62–69%) was observed for method B. The particles with the extract adsorbed showed antioxidant activity (5–60%) at 25°C; however, in the particles with the extract encapsulated, the activity increased after subjecting to acidic conditions at 40°C due to the breakdown of the particles. The results obtained will allow choosing the appropriate conditions for the synthesis of chitosan particles loaded with chia extracts with specific characteristics (%EE, %LC, size, and type) according to their future applications. The particles could be used in food and pharmaceutical industries and even in edible films for food packaging.
Highlights
Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seeds present great benefits for nutrition and human health. ese seeds provide proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, and fiber [1], and they are an important source of phenolic compounds, such as kaempferol (0.403 mg·g−1 of seed), quercetin (0.248 mg·g−1 of seed), chlorogenic acid (0.102 mg·g−1 of seed), myricetin (0.010 mg·g−1 of seed), and gallic acid (0.0116 mg·g−1 of seed) [2,3,4]
Among the polymeric materials applied for encapsulation, the CH composed of β-(1–4)-linked D-glucosamine and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine presents ideal characteristics and is biocompatible, biodegradable, nontoxic, and inexpensive [9]. e synthesis of chitosan particles can occur through many routes, but the ionic gelation reaction is one of the most widely used. e encapsulation of extracts and essential oils from plants in chitosan nanoparticles has been reported [9, 10]
Of the active substances increases, it is only electrostatically adsorbed on the surface of the chitosan particles and the extract can separate during centrifugation, so the %EE decreases. e highest %EE was quantified with a concentration of 0.2 mg·mL−1 with method A. e %EE begins to decrease with a concentration of 0.4 mg·mL−1 of extract, and with 2.0 to 10.0 mg·mL−1, %EE is maintained at about 19%
Summary
Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) seeds present great benefits for nutrition and human health. ese seeds provide proteins, carbohydrates, fatty acids, and fiber [1], and they are an important source of phenolic compounds, such as kaempferol (0.403 mg·g−1 of seed), quercetin (0.248 mg·g−1 of seed), chlorogenic acid (0.102 mg·g−1 of seed), myricetin (0.010 mg·g−1 of seed), and gallic acid (0.0116 mg·g−1 of seed) [2,3,4]. Ey can be degraded by various factors (temperature, light, pH, enzymes, and other nutrients) [7], limiting their activity and potential health benefits. To avoid these phenomena, encapsulation is used, which allows trapping active substances within a material, improving its bioavailability, and facilitating the application of the plant extracts [8]. The use of chia seed mucilage as a wall material to encapsulate the oils extracted from the same seed has been evaluated [14, 15]. E aim of this work was to evaluate two methods of encapsulation of the extract of chia seeds in chitosan particles synthesized under the ionic gelation methodology. The effect of temperature (25°C and 40°C) and pH (6 and 10) on particles and the antioxidant capacity was evaluated
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