Environmental parameters-dependent self-assembling behaviors of α-zein in aqueous ethanol solution studied by atomic force microscopy.

Atomic force microscopy was applied to characterize the self-assembling behaviors of α-zein molecules in 70% (v/v) aqueous ethanol solution under different parameters including α-zein concentration (0.001%-0.1%, w/v), pH (2.0-8.0) and the thermal treatment (90 â„ƒ, 2-24 h). α-Zein (0.1% and 0.01%, w/v) at pH 7.0 formed globules while α-zein assemblies (0.001%, w/v) exhibited the co-existence of worm-like strings, bundles of fibers, and rod-like fibers. Heating the aqueous ethanol solutions containing 0.001% (w/v) α-zein at 90 °C and pH 4.0 converted the irregular aggregates into regular spherical particles (100-120 nm), followed by fibrils (15-50 nm) at a prolonged times (8 h). Besides, fibrils were formed after heating aqueous ethanol solutions containing α-zein (0.001%, w/v) at pH 2.0 for 8 h. A two-step mechanism was proposed to explain such findings, which involved the aggregation of α-zein molecules to form aggregates, and followed by the rearrangement of α-zein molecules to form fibrils.

Fabrication, Characterization, and Formation Mechanism of Zein-Gum Arabic Nanocomposites in Aqueous Ethanol Solution with a High Ethanol Content.

The antisolvent precipitation method is widely applied to produce zein colloidal particles. The process involves dissolving zein in 55-90% (v/v) alcohol/water mixtures and then shearing such solutions into deionized water to lower the ethanol content. In the present work, on the basis of the preliminary result that gum arabic (GA) was able to well disperse in 70% (v/v) alcohol/water mixtures, a new way was created to produce zein-GA nanocomposites by simply mixing their aqueous alcohol solution with a high alcohol level of 70% (v/v) at pH 8.0. Findings showed that the multimodal size distribution of zein or GA alone was shifted to be the monomodal peak after zein and GA aqueous ethanol solution was mixed, indicating the successful formation of zein-GA nanocomposites. A core-shell structure was observed for zein-GA nanocomposites, with zein as a core and GA as a shell. In addition, the incorporation of GA caused the conformational and second structural changes of zein. A two-step mechanism was involved to explain the formation of zein-GA nanocomposites. The first step was that GA addition changed the polarity of zein aqueous ethanol solution and zein nanoparticles formed, and the second step was that hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions promoted the adsorption of GA onto the particle surfaces. Results in this work would provide a new sight into the design of zein-based nanocomplexes, which may have potential applications, such as constructing delivery systems, for bioactive compounds.