BSA@Cu3(PO4)2 hybrid nanoflower as bioinspired tyrosinase-mimicking nanozyme for production of amino acid surfactant from caffeate

BSA@Cu 3 (PO 4 ) 2 hybrid nanoflower as nanozyme with tyrosinase mimic activity. • Salt hydrate Na 2 CO 3 ·10H 2 O as essential cofactor for catalysis in organic solvent. • High catalytic performance for oxidation diphenol to o-quinone. • N Cu coordination as nucleation sites for HNF and active sites tyrosinase mimetics. • Production of melanin-like amino acid surfactants from ethyl caffeate. Amino acid surfactants are widely used in daily life and food industry. Melanin-like amino acid surfactant (MLAAS) is a novel type surfactant. Herein, a robust nanozyme with tyrosinase mimetic activity was first developed by fabricating BSA@Cu 3 (PO 4 ) 2 organic-inorganic hybrid nanoflower (HNF) using bovine serum albumin and copper ions as an organic and inorganic components, respectively. HNF nanozyme biomimetically oxidized ethyl caffeate to o-quinone, achieving yield of 59.57% in organic solvents with Na 2 CO 3 ·10H 2 O as essential cofactor. Michaelis constant was 15.05 mM and turnover number was 6.32 s −1 . It exhibited broad substrate scope toward diphenols and outstanding stability in various organic solvents. o-Quinone was conjugated with leucine to produce MLAAS, which possessed excellent emulsifying and foaming capacities with a critical micelle concentration of 8.12 mM. It presents a novel strategy by combination of HNF and salt hydrate for production of amino acid surfactant with promising emulsification and foaming potential in food processing. Download: Download high-res image (144KB) Download: Download full-size image