Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization
·
2026
·
IF 3.6
Yu Jingwen,Ba Wenxiu,Tang Xinru,Mueed Abdul,Zhang Bing,Deng Zeyuan,Li Hongyan
Lycopene predominantly exists as an all-E isomer, but its Z-isomers are more abundant in the human body and have greater bioaccessibility and antioxidant activity than the all-E-isomer. This study aimed to develop an efficient isomerization method for Z-lycopene production and to fabricate Pickering emulsions loaded with high Z-lycopene content (PEZL) to enhance its stability and bioaccessibility, ultimately evaluating its potential effect against benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) in a mouse model. First, different methods to induce Z-isomerization of (all-E)-lycopene were investigated. Second, PEZL was fabricated and characterized for encapsulation efficiency, stability (under thermal, ionic, pH, and storage stress), in vitro digestion profile and bioaccessibility. Finally, its efficacy was assessed in a BPH mouse model by measuring the prostatic index (PI) and serum levels of acid phosphatase (ACP), testosterone (T), and dihydrotestosterone (DHT). This study developed an efficient production method for Z-lycopene by microwave heating at 560 W for 5 min with supplementation of garlic and onion at a 1:1 ratio. The total Z-lycopene content increased to approximately 71%, and the isomerization efficiency was higher than that with other isomerization methods. The PEZL prepared by zein-chitosan at the ratio of 1:1 demonstrated high encapsulation efficiency and robust stability. PEZL provided a 1.76-fold increase in the relative bioaccessibility compared to lycopene dissolved in perilla seed oil during simulated digestion in vitro. In the BPH model, PEZL administration significantly reduced the PI and serum levels of ACP, T, and DHT compared to the model group. The PEZL significantly improved the stability and bioaccessibility of Z-lycopene and shows promising preventive effects against BPH in vivo, providing a solid foundation for developing Z-lycopene-based functional foods or nutraceuticals for prostate health.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Food Packaging and Shelf Life
·
2026
·
IF 10.8
Jiaxin Zhou,Lubing Xiang,Kang Xu,Aimin Xiang,Ling Liu,Yunxuan Weng,Xiaoying Zhao
Anthocyanins are widely explored for developing freshness indicators. However, their applications are often limited by low color sensitivity and inability to accurately identify the sub-fresh stage of foods. This study developed a novel smart packaging indicator using a Cu²⁺-complexed grape skin anthocyanin (GSA). The complexation significantly enhanced colorimetric accuracy within the critical pH 6–8 range, enabling distinct transitions from pink (pH = 6) to light purple (pH = 7) and deep purple (pH = 8). The indicator was fabricated by incorporating the Cu²⁺-GSA complex and tea polyphenol into an electrospun zein/pullulan-polyvinyl alcohol nanofiber membrane. When monitoring shrimp freshness at 4°C, the indicator's color shift from purple to green accurately corresponded to the sub-fresh (TVB-N > 16.74 mg/100 g) and spoiled (TVB-N > 30 mg/100 g) stages, with RGB values falling below 73 and 55, respectively. The integrated tea polyphenol extended the shelf life of the shrimp by approximately one day. The indicator also effectively monitored poultry and beef spoilage, with an RGB threshold < 85 reliably signaling spoilage (TVB-N > 15 mg/100 g). The platform establishes a strong correlation between visual color parameters and key freshness indices, offering a reliable, real-time solution for monitoring protein-rich food quality.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Materials Today Advances
·
2026
·
IF 8
Kai Cheng,Chao Zhang,Shancan Wang,Shuyan Chen,Xiaoxiao Liao,Sili Zou,Rong Wang,Lefeng Qu
Hemorrhage control remains a critical challenge in clinical and emergency medicine. In this work, we developed a multifunctional hemostatic sponge (GPZ sponge) composed of a gelatin–polyvinyl alcohol matrix reinforced with zein nanoparticles (ZNPs). The incorporation of ZNPs endowed the sponge with stable fixation on moist tissue surfaces while allowing ethanol-triggered facile removal. Upon hydration, the sponge transformed into a dense hydrogel capable of withstanding burst pressures exceeding 140 mmHg and achieving rapid, thrombin-independent hemostasis through enhanced platelet aggregation. Moreover, the intrinsic antioxidant activity of ZNPs conferred efficient reactive oxygen species scavenging. In rat liver bleeding models, the GPZ sponge resulted in minimal blood loss (∼0.11 g), which was dramatically lower than that observed with the commercial gelatin sponge (∼1.19 g), highlighting its outstanding hemostatic efficacy. Furthermore, it achieved effective hemostasis in rat cardiac puncture, rabbit femoral artery, and heparinized porcine carotid artery injury models, demonstrating robust performance under severe and high-pressure bleeding conditions. In full-thickness skin wounds treated with GPZ sponge, the closure ratio reached 97.2% at day 14, significantly higher than 80.9% in the commercial gelatin sponge group. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that the GPZ sponge is an easily fabricated and highly efficient hemostatic material with strong translational potential for next-generation clinical and emergency wound care.
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF BIOLOGICAL MACROMOLECULES
·
2025
·
IF 8.5
Renyuan Wang,Shiyang Du,Qiang Xia,Yangying Sun,Zhen Wu,Qiao Deng,Junwu Ji,Daodong Pan,Changyu Zhou
Composite porous hydrogels have recently attracted interest for controlling foodborne pathogens. However, the fabrication mechanism of composite polysaccharide, essential oils and zein self-assembled nanoparticles, as well as the antibacterial effect, has not been investigated. In this study, a composite porous hydrogel was prepared by incorporating zein nanoparticles encapsulating basil essential oil (BEO) and oregano essential oil (OEO) into a carrageenan‑sodium alginate matrix. The combination of BEO and OEO improved the dispersibility of zein nanoparticles, and enhanced the cross-linking density of CS-zein-BEO/OEO, resulting in the highest viscosity and storage modulus (G'). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed that CS-zein-BEO/OEO formed a dense network structure with lower surface porosity (14.45 %) and Ra value (109 nm) compared with CS-zein-BEO and CS-zein-OEO. FTIR and XRD analyses confirmed that the enhanced structural stability was driven by synergistic hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interactions and hydrophobic forces. Antibacterial assays showed that CS-zein-BEO/OEO exhibited superior broad-spectrum activity, achieving up to 99.02 % inhibition against B. cereus through membrane disruption and reactive oxygen species (ROS) induction. Furthermore, CS-zein-BEO/OEO coating effectively suppressed the increase in TVB-N, TVC and metmyoglobin content, maintaining color and flavor stability in the model of air-dried goose meat preservation. Overall, the CS-zein-BEO/OEO composite porous hydrogel holds great potential for preventing food spoilage and controlling foodborne pathogens.
研究领域:
食品科学与技术
·
材料科学
·
抗菌工程
·
纳米技术
·
高分子化学
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
·
2023
·
IF 6
Lijuan Dong,Qingbo Jiao,Jian Gao,Xin Luo,Yuling Song,Ting Li,Chen Huan,Min Huang,Gerui Ren,Qing Shen,Linglin Fu,Hujun Xie,Zisheng Luo
The loquat ( Eriobotrya japonica ) has high nutritional and economic values. However, loquat easily rots at room temperature, resulting in the loss of commodity value. In this study, zein, lecithin, and (−)-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) were used to prepare Zein-Lecithin-EGCG (Z-L/E) nanoparticles, and the effects of these nanoparticles on loquat quality were studied. EGCG addition affected the zeta potential values of the nanoparticles, which increased from −11.80 mV to −23.34 mV. The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) results showed that electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding formed among lecithin, zein, and EGCG. The Z-L/E nanoparticles showed great antioxidant activity with the DPPH radical scavenging rate of 84.76% and the ABTS radical scavenging rate of 80.95% for Z-L/E 4:1 sample, and had good antibacterial ability by decreasing the growth rate of E. coli . The coating treatment with Z-L/E nanoparticles for loquats reduced the weight loss and the decay rate by 13.3% and 1.4%, respectively, during the storage at 25 °C for 22 days, and the decrease of titratable acidity (TA) and vitamin C (VC) content in loquats were also effectively delayed. The coating treatment with Z-L/E nanoparticles for loquats could significantly prolong the storage life of fruits and maintain the quality of fruits.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
ACS Food Science & Technology
·
2023
·
IF 2.3
Lan Wang,Lei Hao,Huaqing Hou,Lei Wang,Shuai Liu,Rongfeng Tang,Jin Mao,Qi Zhou,Qianchun Deng,Ling Yan,Changhong Liu,Lei Zheng,Jie Shi
The instability and poor solubility of curcumin limit its intake in the human body. In this work, curcumin-encapsulated carboxymethylpachymaran/zein composite nanoparticles (ZMCNPs) were prepared by anti-solvent precipitation, and the morphology of composite nanoparticles was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy, and the interaction between carboxymethylpachymaran, zein, and curcumin was explored by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, and differential scanning calorimetry. The encapsulation efficiency of curcumin by ZMCNPs (83.2%) was significantly higher than that of zein-curcumin nanoparticles (ZCNPs) (44.9%). The ZMCNPs also exhibit high ionic strength tolerance and light, heat, and storage stability. The in vitro release showed that ZMCNPs could effectively prevent the premature release of curcumin in the stomach (9.5%), while curcumin was better sustained in the small intestine stage (47.9%). Finally, the result of cytotoxicity assay in IEC-6 cells and HT-29 cells indicated the good biocompatibility of the ZMCNPs. Therefore, our study may provide some novel options for delivering biologically active substances.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Food & Function
·
2022
·Vol. 13
·期 22
·11652-11663
·
IF 6.317
Zhongyu Yang,David Julian McClements,Xinwen Peng,Chao Qiu,Jie Long,Jianwei Zhao,Zhenlin Xu,Man Meng,Long Chen,Zhengyu Jin
Oral administration of combinations of specific nutrients and nutraceuticals can provide synergistic health benefits to humans. In this work, zein/carboxymethyl cellulose composite nanoparticles were successfully prepared using antisolvent precipitation methods. Zein/carboxymethyl cellulose nanoparticles with the smallest size (204.6 nm) were formed when the mass ratio of zein to CMC was 2 : 1. Hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions were dominant binding forces to stabilize the composite nanoparticles. Quercetin and resveratrol were then encapsulated within these nanocarriers, which improved their resistance to both light and thermal degradation. Encapsulation of the nutraceuticals was shown to delay their release under simulated gastrointestinal conditions, which may be beneficial for some applications. Moreover, encapsulation increased the in vitro bioaccessibility of the quercetin and resveratrol. Our results indicate that zein/carboxymethyl cellulose nanoparticles can be used to co-deliver combinations of bioactive compounds, which may be useful for the development of functional foods, supplements, and pharmaceuticals.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Foods
·
2022
·Vol. 11
·期 14
·2131
·
IF 5.561
Jianchang Jin,Chengzhi Liu,Huafei Tong,Yulu Sun,Min Huang,Gerui Ren,Hujun Xie
Epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) has many excellent qualities such as its antitumor, antiradiation and anti-oxidation properties, but its application is limited because its oral bioavailability is low and stability is poor. In this paper, zein and gum arabic (GA) were used as wall materials to prepare Zein-GA complex nanoparticles for encapsulating and protecting the EGCG. The particle size of Zein-GA-EGCG complex nanoparticles ranged from 128.03–221.23 nm, and the EGCG encapsulation efficiency reached a maximum of 75.23% when the mass ratio of zein to GA was 1:1. The FTIR and XRD results illustrated that the components of the Zein-GA-EGCG complex nanoparticles interacted by electrostatic, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic interactions. The EGCG release rate of Zein-GA-EGCG nanoparticles (16.42%) was lower than that of Zein-EGCG (25.52%) during gastric digestion, and a large amount of EGCG was released during intestinal digestion, suggesting that the Zein-GA-EGCG nanoparticles could achieve the sustained release of EGCG during in vitro digestion. Hence, using Zein-GA complexes to encapsulate EGCG effectively increased the encapsulation efficiency of EGCG and realized the purpose of sustained release during simulated gastrointestinal digestion.Keywords:zein;gum arabic;EGCG;encapsulation;complex nanoparticles
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
·
2021
·
IF 4.952
Gerui Ren,Ying He,Chengzhi Liu,Fangfang Ni,Xin Luo,Jieyu Shi,Yuling Song,Ting Li,Min Huang,Qing Shen,Hujun Xie
In order to improve the water solubility and stability of curcumin (CUR) and achieve its sustained release, the ZEIN– N -(2-hydroxy) propyl-3-trimethylammonium chitosan chloride (HTCC) complexes were designed to encapsulate CUR using an antisolvent precipitation (ASP) method. The encapsulation efficiency ( EE ) and loading capacity ( LC ) of curcumin in ZEIN-HTCC complexes were 92.2% and 0.6%, respectively. After encapsulation, the resistance of curcumin to thermal, natural light and UV irradiation, as well as the antioxidative activity were improved significantly ( P < 0.05). ZEIN-HTCC-CUR complexes exhibited good redispersibility and enhanced the water solubility of curcumin. In vitro simulated digestion experiments clarified that the ZEIN-HTCC complexes can control the sustained release behavior of curcumin, and the release kinetics can be fitted by the Higuchi model. Results taken from fluorescence spectra and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated that hydrophobic interaction, hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions were the main driving forces to form the ZEIN-HTCC-CUR complexes. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) results revealed that the encapsulated curcumin was in an amorphous state. The information provided by this study should be of interest to food industry to fabricate robust nanoscale delivery systems with ZEIN-HTCC complexes for CUR and other hydrophobic bioactive compounds.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
CELLULOSE
·
2023
·Vol. 30
·期 4
·2441-2452
·
IF 5.7
Yi Caifu,Yuan Tianzhong,Ren Hao,Xiao Huining,Zhai Huamin
With the popularity of air fryer, there is an increasing demand for air frying paper. Here, we successfully prepared an air frying paper with good barrier capacity, cytocompatibility and degradability by coating chitosan, zein and lignin containing cellulose nanofibers (LCNFs), in sequence. The obtained triple-coated paper has a high kit number of 12 and a low Cobb 60 value of 4.93 g/m 2 . Importantly, it had excellent hot oil resistance, which was no penetration even at oil temperature of 210 °C. The triple-coated paper also showed good resistance to ethanol, acid and alkali solutions. These excellent barrier capacities were due to the smooth and dense barrier layer formed by chitosan, zein and LCNFs. Thus, the triple-coated paper was successfully used in the air fryer to fry fries and chicken drumsticks. And the good cytocompatibility and degradability of the coated paper further promote its practical application.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
·
2021
·Vol. 101
·期 15
·6355-6367
·
IF 3.639
Shiyuan Luo,Abdullah Saadi,Kai Fu,Maierhaba Taxipalati,Lingli Deng
BACKGROUND In recent years, there has been considerable interest in the use of biopolymer electrospun nanofibers for various food applications due to the biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high loading capacity. Herein, we fabricated and characterized novel hybrid electrospun fibers from dextran (50%, w/v ) and zein (0–30%, w/v ) solutions, and the effects of various zein concentrations on the properties of the hybrid electrospun fibers were investigated. RESULTS When zein was added at low concentrations (5% and 10%), dextran and zein showed poor miscibility, as reflected by significantly decreased viscosity of the solutions, and the poor mechanical properties of the derived fiber membranes. When zein was added at medium concentrations (15–25%), hydrogen bonds were formed between dextran and zein molecules, as indicated by the red shift of Fourier-transform infrared bands and β-sheet to α-helix structural transformations. The fiber membranes electrospun from a solution with 25% zein showed the most hydrophobic surface, with a water contact angle of 116.9°. The homogenous dispersion of dextran and zein resulted in improved mechanical properties for fibers electrospun from a solution with 30% zein. Curcumin encapsulating dextran/zein electrospun fibers exhibited effective radical scavenging activity and ferric reducing power, along with the desired controlled release behavior for curcumin delivery. CONCLUSION Food grade dextran/zein hybrid electrospun fibers demonstrated tunable properties, and appear to be promising as delivery systems for bioactive and edible antimicrobial food packaging. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Journal of Materials Chemistry B
·
2021
·Vol. 9
·期 25
·5047-5054
·
IF 6.331
Lianlian Fu,Dijuan Zou,Qiankun Shi,Deshuai Yu,Hao Zhang,Hao Qian,Wenrong Shen,Dongfang Zhou,Youhui Lin
With the rapid development of biology and nanotechnology, designing nanomaterials with intrinsic enzyme-like activities has attracted huge attention in recent years. Herein, for the first time, we use zein as a new protein precursor to prepare N-rich carbonized zein nanosheets (C-Zein) via facile pyrolysis. Zein is an inert, biodegradable and sustainable natural biopolymer. After high-temperature carbonization, zein can be converted into highly catalytically active C-Zein, which can possess excellent peroxidase- and oxidase-like catalytic activities. Such intrinsic enzyme-like activities of C-Zein are closely related to its graphitization degree, the ratio of graphitic nitrogen and the formation of disordered graphene. Intriguingly, C-Zein also exhibits high photothermal conversion efficiency in the near-infrared (NIR) region. Coupling their unique photothermal and catalytic properties, the as-prepared C-Zein can act as a robust agent for synergistic photothermal-catalytic cancer treatment under the irradiation of NIR light. We expect that this work paves the way to use zein for designing efficient artificial enzymes and accelerate further growth in exploring its new biomedical and pharmaceutical applications.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）