Development of edible films obtained from submicron emulsions based on whey protein concentrate, oil/beeswax and brea gum.

Edible films with whey protein concentrate (WPC) with a lipid component, sunflower oil (O) or beeswax (W), to enhance barrier to water vapor were obtained. Brea gum was used as emulsifier and also as matrix component. In order to achieve emulsion with small and homogeneous droplet size, an ultrasonicator equipment was used after obtaining a pre-emulsion using a blender. The films were made by casting. Effects of lipid fraction on droplet size, zeta potential, mechanical properties, water vapor permeability (WVP), solubility, and optical properties were determined. The droplet size of emulsions with BG decreased when decreasing the lipid content in the formulation. The zeta potential was negative for all the formulations, since the pH was close to 6 for all of them and pI of BG is close to 2.5, and pI of ß-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin (main proteins in WPC) are 5.2 and 4.1, respectively. Increasing W or SO content in blended films reduced the tensile strength and puncture resistance significantly. BG and WPC films without lipid presented better mechanical properties. The presence of lipids decreased the WVP, as expected, and those films having BG improved this property. BG films were slightly amber as a result of the natural color of the gum. BG has shown to be a good polysaccharide for emulsifying the lipid fraction and improving the homogeneity and mechanical properties of the films with WPC and beeswax or oil.

Complexes between ovalbumin nanoparticles and linoleic acid: Stoichiometric, kinetic and thermodynamic aspects.

Stoichiometric, kinetic and thermodynamic aspects of complex formation between heat-induced aggregates of ovalbumin (ovalbumin nanoparticles, OVAn) and linoleic acid (LA) were evaluated. Extrinsic fluorescence data were fitted to modified Scatchard model yielding the following results: n: 49±2 LA molecules bound per OVA monomer unit and Ka: 9.80±2.53×10(5)M. Kinetic and thermodynamic properties were analyzed by turbidity measurements at different LA/OVA monomer molar ratios (21.5-172) and temperatures (20-40°C). An adsorption approach was used and a pseudo-second-order kinetics was found for LA-OVAn complex formation. This adsorption process took place within 1h. Thermodynamic parameters indicated that LA adsorption on OVAn was a spontaneous, endothermic and entropically-driven process, highlighting the hydrophobic nature of the LA and OVAn interaction. Finally, Atomic Force Microscopy imaging revealed that both OVAn and LA-OVAn complexes have a roughly rounded form with size lower than 100nm.

Chromatographic fractionation and molecular mass characterization of Cercidium praecox (Brea) gum.

BACKGROUND: Brea gum (BG) is an exudate from the Cercidium praecox tree that grows in semi-arid regions of Argentina. Some previous studies on BG have shown physicochemical characteristics and functional features similar to those of gum arabic. However, there is a need to elucidate the molecular structure of BG to understand the functionality. In this sense, BG was fractionated using hydrophobic interaction chromatography and the obtained fractions were analyzed by size exclusion chromatography. RESULTS: Analysis of the fractions showed that the bulk of the gum (approx. 84% of the polysaccharides) was a polysaccharide of 2.79 × 10(3) kDa. The second major fraction (approx. 16% of the polysaccharides) was a polysaccharide-protein complex with a molecular mass of 1.92 × 10(5) kDa. A third fraction consisted of protein species with a wide range of molecular weights. The molecular weight distribution of the protein fraction was analyzed by size exclusion chromatography. Comparison of the elution profiles of the exudates in native and reducing conditions revealed that some of the proteins were forming aggregates through disulfide bridges in native conditions. Further analysis of the protein fraction by SDS-PAGE showed proteins with molecular weight ranging from 6.5 to 66 kDa. CONCLUSIONS: The findings showed that BG consists of several fractions with heterogeneous chemical composition and polydisperse molecular weight distributions. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Linoleic acid binding properties of ovalbumin nanoparticles.

In the present work, ovalbumin (OVA) solutions (10 g/L, 50 mM NaCl, pH 7.5) were heat-treated at 75, 80 and 85°C (namely, OVA-75, OVA-80 and OVA-85, respectively), from 0 to 25 min. OVA nanoparticles (OVAn) around 100 nm were obtained. For 3 min of heat treatment, OVAn sizes increased with temperature, but for a heating time longer than 10 min, OVA-75 showed the highest size values. OVAn surface hydrophobicity increased 6-8 folds in comparison with native OVA and wavelength blue shifts of 25-30 nm in maximum fluorescence intensity were registered. These results suggest that buried hydrophobic residues were exposed to the aqueous medium. Binding experiments with linoleic acid (LA) as polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) model were carried out. Firstly, binding ability of OVAn was determined from LA titration curves of intrinsic fluorescence measurements. OVA-85 at 5 min presented the highest binding ability and it was used for further binding properties studies (turbidity, particle size distribution--PSD--analysis and ζ-potential measurements). Turbidity measurement and PSD analysis showed that OVAn-LA nanocomplexes were formed, avoiding LA supramolecular self-assembly formation. The union of LA to OVAn surface confers them significant lower ζ-potential and larger size. Hence, fluorescence and ζ-potential results showed that LA would bind to OVAn by mean of hydrophobic interactions. Information derived from this work could be important to potentially use OVAn as PUFA vehiculization with applications in several industrial sectors (food, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, etc.).