Nanovitaminated drinks are healthier than regular ones
Nanocapsules with vitamins will make drinks healthierChemPort.Ru based on RSC materials: All clear for tiny capsules of goodness
Researchers from Israel have created nanocapsules from natural food materials that can be filled with fat-soluble vitamins and other lipophilic micronutrients and added to drinks, making them more healthy.
At the same time, the presence of nanocapsules in such a drink does not change their presentation – turbidity of drinks does not occur, and the capsule material reliably protects lipophilic micronutrients from interaction with the components of the drink, which allows for effective transfer of nutrients into the human body.
To obtain nanocapsules consisting of protein and saccharide, Gilad Markman and Yoav Livney and from the Israel Institute of Technology (Haifa) used the Maillard reaction. The Maillard reaction is the interaction of an amino acid with sugar, which occurs, as a rule, when heated. A typical example of such a reaction is frying meat or baking bread, when a typical smell, color and taste of cooked food occurs during the heating of a food product. It was this reaction that was previously used for the synthesis of proteinglycan aggregates capable of encapsulating hydrophobic nutrients, but the capsules obtained so far were large in size, which led to turbidity of the solution in which they were placed.
The researchers managed to obtain nanocapsules of a suitable size using the interaction of oligosaccharides obtained from starch with milk protein-casein (figure from the article Maillard-conjugate based core–shell co-assemblies for nanoencapsulation of hydrophobic nutraceuticals in clear beverages, published in the journal Food & Function – VM). The interaction products enter into spontaneous self-organization, forming a nanostructure with a high degree of curvature. The size of the capsules obtained is so small that they do not cause turbidity of the drink to which they were added.
Vitamin D (a lack of this vitamin in the body leads to the development of rickets and other diseases) and epigallocatechingallate (an antioxidant that prevents the development of many diseases, which can be found in green tea) were injected into the resulting nanocapsules, after which the researchers tracked the dynamics of the release of the contents of the capsules during their human consumption. It was found that during gastric digestion, the contents of the capsules are not released, but the enzymes of the small intestine break down the chemical bonds between the protein and glycan fragments of nanocapsules, which leads to their destruction, the release of the payload, which becomes available for assimilation. It was also found that capsules are not only a means of delivering vitamins, but also protect them from destruction, which can occur at low pH values characteristic of the gastrointestinal tract.
Cristina Sabliov, an expert on the encapsulation of biologically active compounds from the University of Louisiana, notes that the new nanocapsules may well find practical application. She adds that the research conducted aimed at developing methods of targeted delivery of nutrients can have a significant impact on the development of safe, tasty and healthy foods.
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26.12.2011