Towards the understanding of the behavior of bio-based nanostructures during in vitro digestion

The encapsulation of bioactive compounds in bio-based nanostructures is considered a hot topic in food technology, due to their huge potential in protecting the valuable bioactive compounds and providing new functionalities (e.g. increase of bioavailability). However, there are still some challenges that must be overcome before this technology can be entirely embraced by food industry, including the optimisation of nanostructures formulations to increase stability and bioactive compounds bioavailability and the risk assessment of their use in food. Therefore, in recent years, efforts are being directed to the evaluation of the in vitro behaviour of nanostructures during digestion/absorption. This evaluation can be challenging, however, there are opportunities to take advantage from the lessons learned from pharmaceutical industry and of the considerable progress in the development of more realistic in vitro models and in situ analysis techniques to more accurately predict the behaviour of bio-based nanostructures once ingested.Ana C. Pinheiro acknowledge the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) for her fellowship (SFRH/BPD/101181/2014). This work was supported by Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the Project PTDC/AGR-TEC/5215/2014 and of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit, and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 — Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. The authors would also like to thank the investment project n° 017931, co-funded by Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento Regional (FEDER) through Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (COMPETE 2020).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparison between Quinoa and Quillaja saponins in the Formation, Stability and Digestibility of Astaxanthin-Canola Oil Emulsions

Saponins from Quillaja saponaria and Chenopodium quinoa were evaluated as natural emulsifiers in the formation of astaxanthin enriched canola oil emulsions. The aim of this study was to define the processing conditions for developing emulsions and to evaluate their physical stability against environmental conditions: pH (2–10), temperature (20–50 °C), ionic strength (0–500 mM NaCl), and storage (35 days at 25 °C), as well as their performance in an in vitro digestion model. The emulsions were characterized, evaluating their mean particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), and zeta potential. Oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions were effectively produced using 1% oil phase and 1% emulsifier (saponins). Emulsions were stable over a wide range of pH values (4–10), but exhibited particle aggregation at lower pH, salt conditions, and high temperatures. The emulsion stability index (ESI) remained above 80% after 35 days of storage. The results of our study suggest that saponins can be an effective alternative to synthetic emulsifiers

Comparison between Quinoa and <i>Quillaja saponins</i> in the Formation, Stability and Digestibility of Astaxanthin-Canola Oil Emulsions

Saponins from Quillaja saponaria and Chenopodium quinoa were evaluated as natural emulsifiers in the formation of astaxanthin enriched canola oil emulsions. The aim of this study was to define the processing conditions for developing emulsions and to evaluate their physical stability against environmental conditions: pH (2–10), temperature (20–50 °C), ionic strength (0–500 mM NaCl), and storage (35 days at 25 °C), as well as their performance in an in vitro digestion model. The emulsions were characterized, evaluating their mean particle size, polydispersity index (PDI), and zeta potential. Oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions were effectively produced using 1% oil phase and 1% emulsifier (saponins). Emulsions were stable over a wide range of pH values (4–10), but exhibited particle aggregation at lower pH, salt conditions, and high temperatures. The emulsion stability index (ESI) remained above 80% after 35 days of storage. The results of our study suggest that saponins can be an effective alternative to synthetic emulsifiers

Microencapsulation of <i>Piscirickettsia salmonis</i> Antigens for Fish Oral Immunization: Optimization and Stability Studies

The development of fish oral vaccines is of great interest to the aquaculture industry due to the possibility of rapid vaccination of a large number of animals at reduced cost. In a previous study, we evaluated the effect of alginate-encapsulated Piscirickettsia salmonis antigens (AEPSA) incorporated in feed, effectively enhancing the immune response in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). In this study, we seek to characterize AEPSA produced by ionic gelation using an aerodynamically assisted jetting (AAJ) system, to optimize microencapsulation efficiency (EE%), to assess microparticle stability against environmental (pH, salinity and temperature) and gastrointestinal conditions, and to evaluate microparticle incorporation in fish feed pellets through micro-CT-scanning. The AAJ system was effective in obtaining small microparticles (d P. salmonis antigens in alginate with a high EE% and a size small enough to be incorporated in fish feed and produce an oral vaccine

New insights on bio-based micro- and nanosystems in food

The application of micro- and nanotechnologies in the food industry have been widely studied and reported due to an increasing growth of public awareness for the consumption of healthy food products. Consequently, food industry players have become highly interested in the development and application of innovative food-grade micro- and nanosystems intended for the protection and controlled delivery of bioactive compounds. This can be achieved by resorting to novel state of the art methodologies (i.e., top-down and bottom-up strategies) that take advantage of the functional properties of such ingredients, so that they can be used to protect and release, in a controlled manner, bioactive compounds. To evaluate effectiveness of these micro- and nanosystems it is of utmost importance to evaluate their behavior when incorporated in food products, in order to perceive potential interactions with biomolecules, as well as under gastrointestinal (GI) digestion. In vitro \GI\ models have been used since they provide accurate results, are relatively inexpensive, and do not raise ethical issues, and most of all can be correlated with those obtained in vivo.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and COMPETE 2020 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006684) and by BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) funded by the European Regional Development Fund under the scope of Norte2020 – Programa Operacional Regional do Norte. Daniel A. Madalena, Ricardo N. Pereira and Oscar L. Ramos are recipient of a fellowship supported by FCT (SFRH/BD/129127/2017, SFRH/BPD/81887/2011 and SFRH/ BPD/80766/2011, respectively)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio