Food Chemistry-X
·
2026
·
IF 9.2
Bingcan Liu,Siling Zhang,Honghui Geng,Can Hu,An Zhou,Zeyu Wu
Fabrication of indicator array based on varying proportions of curcumin and alizarin. • Composite films exhibited a lower water solubility compared with pure PVA films. • The detection limit of indicator array for volatile amine gases was down to 1 ppm. • Color alterations of the array strongly correlated with pork spoilage indexes. In this work, a synergistic polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/zein electrospun nanofiber array was fabricated using curcumin and alizarin as dual responsive pigments for visual pork freshness monitoring. The water solubility of the PVA/zein composite reduced from 100.00% to 31.74%–35.42% ( P < 0.05), exhibiting remarkably enhanced water resistance. The dual-pigment array displayed continuous color transitions from pH 4.0 to 11.0 and detected ammonia and dimethylamine at 1 ppm, whereas alizarin-only films needed 5 ppm. The total color difference ( ΔE ) of the array showed strong linear correlations with thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS, r = 0.98), pH ( r = 0.95), and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N, r = 0.98) in pork during refrigerated storage. Notably, the array enabled visual grading of pork freshness (fresh/sub-fresh/spoiled) and exhibited excellent color stability under ambient and refrigerated conditions. This study presents an eco-friendly and scalable intelligent packaging platform with great potential for real-time, on-site food freshness assessment. In this study, a colorimetric array based on polyvinyl alcohol-zein composite substrates and varying ratios of curcumin and alizarin as responsive materials was fabricated via electrospinning for monitoring pork freshness during refrigeration. Download: Download high-res image (172KB) Download: Download full-size image
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
FOOD CHEMISTRY
·
2025
·
IF 9.8
Like Wang,Peiyan Feng,Bo Liu,Shuheng Wei,Peng Tang,Shouwei Yin
Novel phase-change Pickering emulsion microcapsules (PCPEs) were constructed using tannic acid (TA)-modified zein nanoparticles (T-zein) and a lauric acid/stearic acid eutectic (LS) to encapsulate β-carotene. The grafting of TA tuned the wettability of zein nanoparticles, enabling stable emulsification at 50 °C. Subsequent cooling resulted in microcapsules with a T-zein shell and crystalline core (LS), achieving an encapsulation efficiency of 88.15 %. The solidified oil phase restricted molecular migration, while interfacial T-zein provided dual protection, reducing β-carotene degradation under UV irradiation and auto-oxidation by 57.19 % and 67.88 %, respectively, compared with liquid-core emulsions. In vitro digestion studies showed that phase change triggered by physiological temperature enabled controlled release. PCPEs displayed superior gastric stability and resistance to coalescence in the intestine, enhancing the bioaccessibility of β-carotene to 42.57 % (36 % higher than liquid-core emulsions and 298 % of the free control). Overall, this solid-core engineering strategy presents a novel platform for the rational design of emulsion for targeted delivery of lipophilic bioactives.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
Biomolecules
·
2025
·Vol. 15
·期 6
·891
·
IF 4.8
Hui Xiang,Runtian Wu,Man Xiao,Jianhui An,Longchen Shang,Yexing Tao,Lingli Deng
This study investigated gelatin/zein nanofibers loaded with dihydromyricetin (0–20%, relative to protein weight), before and after the Maillard reaction (60 °C with 50% relative humidity for 6 h). Scanning electron microscopy and diameter distribution analysis indicated that dihydromyricetin incorporation increased the fiber diameter from 692 ± 133 to 922 ± 121 nm, while the nanofibers maintained a uniform morphology following the Maillard reaction. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed that dihydromyricetin formed hydrogen bonds with protein molecules. X-ray diffraction results indicate that dihydromyricetin was uniformly dispersed within the gelatin/zein nanofibers. The addition of dihydromyricetin improved the thermal stability of the nanofibers. Furthermore, after the Maillard reaction, the nanofibers with dihydromyricetin demonstrated enhanced water resistance. Mechanical testing revealed that nanofibers containing 20% dihydromyricetin after the Maillard reaction exhibited a considerably higher elastic modulus of approximately 90 MPa. In addition, nanofibers containing dihydromyricetin exhibited notable antioxidant activity and antibacterial properties againstEscherichia coliandStaphylococcus aureus. In summary, gelatin/zein nanofibers containing high concentrations of dihydromyricetin exhibited favorable physical and functional properties, supporting their suitability as effective delivery systems for dihydromyricetin in active packaging applications.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
·
2025
·
IF 6.6
Xiaopian Yan,Jiannan Yan,Jinying Zhu,Fangxiao Xing,Qianqian Gu,Jiale Gao,Chengbin Zhao,Jingsheng Liu
The aim of this study is to regulate the digestion degree of zein and the antioxidant activity of digests through post-ripening of corn. The effect of post-ripening of corns (Jidan 66 and Liangyu 99) on structural properties and antioxidant activities of zein during in vitro simulated gastrointestinal digestion was investigated. The results showed that zein had the highest digestion level after appropriate post-ripening of corn, such as storage at 25 °C for 28 days, which reduced molecular weights of zein digests and increased the content of peptides with molecular weight less than 1000 Da. The post-ripening resulted in more unfolded and looser structure of zein digests, lowering particle size and enhancing surface charge. The high digestion level, low molecular weight, flexible structure and smaller particle size of protein facilitated the enhancement of radical scavenging capacities of zein digests after the corn post-ripening. Therefore, post-ripening of corn can be used to control the digestion degree of zein and the structure of digests, thereby enhancing their antioxidant activities, which was beneficial to improve digestion and functional activities of zein-based foods.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials
·
2026
·
IF 21.8
Xie Fang,Liang Wenwen,Liu Xin,Wang Yuehui,He Zhijun,Cai Jie
Despite the promising potential of emulsions as oral delivery vehicles, challenges such as insufficient interfacial stability, poor encapsulation efficiency, and limited mucosal adhesion still hinder their effectiveness in delivering lipophilic bioactives. In this study, we developed a high internal phase Pickering emulsion (HIPPE) system stabilized by zein–tannic acid–β-glucan (ZTB) ternary complex particles to enhance the oral delivery of β-carotene. The incorporation of β-glucan markedly improved the droplet size uniformity, interfacial protein adsorption, and storage and digestion stability of HIPPEs. The optimized ZTB − 0.6 -stabilized HIPPEs achieved a high encapsulation efficiency of ~ 88.77%, β-carotene retention of ~85.57% after 28 days of storage at 4 °C, and bioaccessibility of ~ 24.10% during in vitro digestion. Rheological tests confirmed desirable shear-thinning and thixotropic properties, suitable for 3D food printing. Furthermore, in vivo evaluations using a DSS-induced murine colitis model revealed that β-carotene-loaded ZTB-HIPPEs exerted multifaceted therapeutic effects: they effectively mitigated colonic inflammatory responses, bolstered the endogenous antioxidant capacity, and contributed to the restoration of intestinal barrier integrity. These findings highlight the potential of ZTB-stabilized HIPPEs as a multifunctional platform for targeted nutrient delivery and intestinal health improvement. Graphical
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
LWT-FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
·
2026
·
IF 7.1
Chunyan Wang,Xinxin Ma,Zhuang-Li Kang,Sheng Geng,Shengjie Hu,Liping Guo,Hanjun Ma,Benguo Liu
Chilled pork exudate provides a nutrient-rich, high-humidity microenvironment that promotes microbial spoilage. To address this, an antibacterial gelatin/zein (GZ) composite film incorporated with thirteen-spices essential oil (TSEO) was developed by solution casting. The effects of GZ mass ratio and TSEO loading on film properties and preservation efficacy were investigated. The GZ 1:3 film with 1 mL/dL TSEO exhibited optimal performance, showing an elongation at break of 103.08 ± 2.26%, solubility of 52.94 ± 4.09%, volatile mass fraction of 18.21 ± 0.51%, and a TSEO retention rate of 80.39 ± 1.49% during 4 °C storage. Hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions between G and Z formed a dense matrix that effectively loaded TSEO, yielding strong antibacterial zones against E. coli and S. aureus (28 ± 1 mm/27 ± 2 mm). This film significantly slowed quality deterioration in chilled pork, maintaining acceptable color, pH, and total viable count for up to 9 days at 4 °C. In conclusion, the optimized 1 mL/dL TSEO loaded GZ 1:3 composite film exhibited enhanced structural stability and sustained antimicrobial activity, thereby extending the shelf life of chilled pork, which contributes to the development of environmentally friendly natural active packaging materials for meat preservation.
✓ 已验证
DOI
高影响因子
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
·
2023
·
IF 9.5
Zhiqiang Li,Weiqi Liu,Chenbo Sun,Xinyi Wei,Shiyuan Liu,Yanbin Jiang
Pickering emulsions have received considerable attention for their stability and functionality. Environmentally responsive Pickering emulsions could be used as vehicles for oral administration. However, challenges still exist, such as nonbiocompatibility of emulsifier and mismatched response behavior in the gastrointestinal environment. In this study, a strategy was proposed that bioactive saponin glycyrrhizic acid (GA) was used as a pH-responsive substance to functionalize zein nanoparticles, and tannic acid (TA) was used as a primer for cross-linking GA and zein nanoparticles. The Pickering emulsions fabricated by zein/TA/GA nanoparticles (ZTGs) exhibited excellent stability at acid conditions while slowly demulsifying at neutral conditions, which can be further used as an intestine-targeted delivery system. Curcumin was encapsulated into ZTG-stabilized Pickering emulsions, and the encapsulation efficiency results suggested that the presence of GA coating remarkably facilitated the encapsulation of curcumin. An in vitro digestion study suggested that ZTGs provided protection for emulsions from pepsin hydrolysis and exhibited higher free fatty acid release as well as higher bioaccessibility of curcumin during simulated intestine digestion. This study provides an effective strategy to prepare pH-responsive Pickering emulsions for improving the oral bioaccessibility of hydrophobic nutraceuticals.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
JOURNAL OF NANOPARTICLE RESEARCH
·
2023
·Vol. 25
·期 2
·1-12
·
IF 2.5
Zhang Yige,Song Honghong,Dai Zhifeng,Xiong Yubing
In this
study, nitrogen and sulfur-codoped porous carbon material (ZC) was prepared via carbonization of the complex of hydrophobic poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) and zein through electrostatic interaction. The structure and morphology of ZCs were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and Raman spectroscopy. In addition, nitrogen adsorption–desorption analysis showed that ZCs were mainly mesoporous, and the pore size was in a narrow dispersity. The surface area of ZC-10 could be as high as 764 m 2 g −1 , and the total pore volume was 0.41 cm 3 g −1 . Remarkably, the specific capacitance of the electrode prepared by ZC-10 was 338 F g −1 in 2.0 M KOH at a current density of 0.1 A g −1 and presented excellent cycle stability. After 5000 cycles, the specific capacitance still remained stable. Therefore, our finding suggested a facile strategy for the fabrication of porous carbon materials with high capacitance performance through PIL and biomacromolecule composites. Considering their easy preparation and biomass source, ZCs are of great potential in the future applications of electronic devices and systems.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
INDUSTRIAL CROPS AND PRODUCTS
·
2023
·
IF 5.9
Wenquan Huang,Zhiqiang Li,Weiqi Liu,Shiyuan Liu,Rujin Zhou,Yanbin Jiang
Zein is an excellent protein-based pharmaceutical excipient , which has been extensively studied as a carrier for drug delivery system (DDS). However, the poor target ability of zein has limited its efficient delivery and in vivo applications. In this study, the B16 cancer cell membrane coated α-zein biomimetic drug delivery system was prepared to enhance homotypic target ability. The solubility and self-assembly behavior of α-zein were studied using different solvents, the particle size uniformity, stability and toxicity were evaluated. Then B16 cancer cell membrane (CCM) modified α-zein based nanocarrier was prepared by using the co-extrusion method. The AFM analysis showed that Young’s modulus (530.53 ± 66.55 MPa) of CCM-α-zein was smaller than that of membrane-derived vesicles, but bigger than that of α-zein. After coating the CCM on the surface of α-zein, the surface adhesion force of CCM-α-zeinα-zein (56.4 ± 4.6 nN) was significantly reduced. The results of protein electrophoresis showed that CCM-α-zein could completely retain the proteins of α-zein and CCM after co-extrusion. The safety of the DDS prepared was proved by the hemolysis test and non-tumor cells experiment. Paclitaxel was selected as the model drug to prepare DDS nanoparticles , the results of the cell experiment showed that the migration area of B16 cells was reduced by 5.79%, which indicated the strong inhibition migration ability of DDS. The nuclear activity analysis showed that the nuclei of B16 cells were broken into fragments. Qualitative and quantitative studies suggested that the prepared CCM-α-zein possessed homologous targeting ability. Therefore, this work presents an effective strategy to enhance the targeting ability, which will extensive biomedical applications of zein.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
FOOD CHEMISTRY
·
2023
·
IF 8.8
Deyi Zhou,Yuelin Xin,Baoguang Wu,Xiaofen Jiang,Xinling Wu,Pengfei Hou,Jiangtao Qi,Jinsong Zhang
In this research, zein was modified with curcumin to obtain covalent and non-covalent complexes. They were further covered with polysaccharides (gum arabic or gum karaya) possessing different surface charge amounts to obtain ternary nanoparticles for preparing novel antioxidant Pickering emulsions. The addition of curcumin to the zein-polysaccharide system significantly retarded the UV degradation of the encapsulated β-carotene (maximum retention ∼ 97%) and effectively inhibited the lipid oxidation of the emulsions. In vitro gastrointestinal digestion assays showed that gum karaya significantly delayed the release of free fatty acids, thereby improving the bioaccessibility of β-carotene (the highest bioavailability ∼ 38%). By comparing the performance of the complex particles, the weakly charged polysaccharides were superior to the highly charged ones, while zein-curcumin covalent binding was superior to non-covalent binding in the above experiments. This study provides innovative perspectives on the use of novel Pickering emulsions to provide ideal protection and bioavailability of lipophilic nutraceuticals.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
FOOD CHEMISTRY
·
2022
·
IF 9.231
Jianglong Kong,Xiaohan Ge,Yuting Sun,Meiru Mao,Hongrui Yu,Runxuan Chu,Yi Wang
Intelligent packaging not only protects food from environmental hazards but intuitively monitors the changes of food quality and safety. A novel intelligent packaging film with pH sensitivity and antibacterial and antioxidant effects was developed based on the highly cross-linked zein. The composite film with 0.05 g/g crosslinking agent had the best mechanical properties. The tensile strength (TS) and elongation-at-break (EBA) were 2.42 and 1.53 times of that of zein film, respectively. Moreover, the intelligent packaging showed longstanding antimicrobial and antioxidant effects because of the addition of the tea tree essential oil (TTEO)-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs). The blueberry anthocyanin as colorimetric indicator was added in the packaging film to monitor the safety of meat products using a mobile phone. The color of the composite film as the packaging of the pork products changed from colorless to brown after 9-day storage to show the spoilage of the pork. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first-time report of 1) the application of TTEO-loaded MSNs for food packing, 2) the addition of TTEO as the antimicrobial agent for zein film, and 3) using the applications of mobile phone to measure the RBG value of the zein-based film. This study offers an example of the highly promising biodegradable intelligent packaging with multi-functions for the enhancement of food safety.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
PubMed
高影响因子
FOOD HYDROCOLLOIDS
·
2023
·
IF 10.7
Shuo Xu,Shaoxuan Yu,Zihao Zhang,Geyu Pang,Yuqing Zhang,Xinrui Wang,Haifang Xiao,Yuanda Song
This study aims to investigate the influences and potential mechanisms of zein-fucoidan nanoparticle (ZFNPs) loaded with and without curcumin (Cur) on casein (CN) before and after thermal treatment. It was found that the addition of ZFNPs into CN solution slightly promoted its fluorescence. However, significant fluorescence quenching of CN was observed after heating when Cur-loaded ZFNPs (CZFNPs) and free Cur were added. We speculated that Cur released from CZFNPs during heating might access the hydrophobic sites in the interior of CN to interact with tryptophan (Trp) residues, like free Cur. Obviously conformational changes of CN caused by released Cur was stronger than that caused by ZFNPs. FTIR spectra revealed that the influences of CZFNPs on the secondary structure of CN also resulted from both ZFNPs and the loaded Cur molecules. Additionally, with the addition of CZFNPs, ZFNPs and Cur, the average particle size of CN increased before heating but decreased after heating. Although they exhibited a same trend, the CN solutions with ZFNPs and CZFNPs were more homogeneous systems from this aspect. Last but not least, DSC curves showed that the presence of ZFNPs during heating did not alter the thermal stability of CN. Nevertheless, CZFNPs and Cur led to a reduction in the denaturalization temperature of CN, indicating that they were just simply mixed with CN in the solutions rather than bind to CN through covalent bonds. The results obtained in this work may provide theoretical guidance for the application of nano delivery systems in functional foods and beverages.
✓ 已验证
产品关联
DOI
高影响因子
危险品化学品经营许可证（带存储）