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Encapsulation of date palm pit extract via particulation of starch nanocrystals in a microemulsion
Author(s) -
Jivan Mehdi J.,
Yarmand Mohamadsaeed,
Madadlou Ashkan
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
international journal of food science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.831
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1365-2621
pISSN - 0950-5423
DOI - 10.1111/ijfs.12359
Subject(s) - agriculture , natural resource , palm oil , natural food , library science , agricultural science , food science , chemistry , environmental science , biology , computer science , ecology
The participation of bioactive food compounds including phenolics in various metabolisms and their counteractions with disease-developing mechanisms (Rostagno et al., 2010) has caused an increasing attraction to functional foods. Date palm pit extract is a rich source of polyphenols (Ardekani & Kanavi, 2010) that show metal scavengering, antimutagenes, and antimicrobial activities (Bagheri et al., 2013). The utilisation of encapsulated polyphenols in formulation of health-promoting functional foods instead of free counterparts can overcome the drawbacks of their instability, alleviate unpleasant tastes or flavours, as well as improve the bioavailability and half-life of these compounds in blood stream (Fang & Bhandari, 2010). Starch being a natural, inexpensive, biodegradable, and biocompatible polymer has attracted much attention in encapsulation processes. Starch nanocrystals are amylopectin-originated nanoscalar blocklets obtained through acidic hydrolysis of starch granules amorphous regions at ambient temperatures (Angellier et al., 2004). The acid-resistant crystals are intrinsically rigid, highly crystalline, and low permeable (Wang et al., 2003). These characteristics nominate the nanocrystals as promising candidates for preparation of acid-resistant and mechanically strong carriers for nutraceuticals. Microemulsions are thermodynamically stable and optically transparent dispersion of two immiscible liquids in which small droplets of one or both liquids are stabilised by surfactant molecules (Destr ee & Nagy, 2006). These systems offer the possibility to synthesise nanoscalar supramolecular assemblies from monomers or tiny starting bricks (Lopez-Quintela, 2003). Zhang & Zhong (2009, 2010) implemented a water-in-oil (W/O) microemulsion system to generate whey protein isolate nanoparticles gelled by heat-treatment. There is no report in the literature on preparation of particles from starch nanocrystals. The objective of the present study was therefore to prepare date palm pit extract-loaded spheres from starch nanocrystals using a microemulsion reactor.