Whey Protein Isolate Nanofibers Prepared by Subcritical Water Stabilized High Internal Phase Pickering Emulsion to Deliver Curcumin

This study aimed to design a Pickering emulsion (PE) stabilized by whey protein isolate nanofibers (WPINs) prepared with subcritical water (SW) to encapsulate and prevent curcumin (Cur) degradation. Cur-loaded WPINs-SW stabilized PE (WPINs-SW-PE) and hydrothermally prepared WPINs stabilized PE (WPINs-H-PE) were characterized using the particle size, zeta potential, Congo Red, CD, and TEM. The results indicated that WPINs-SW-PE and WPINs-H-PE showed regular spherical shapes with average lengths of 26.88 +/- 1.11 mu m and 175.99 +/- 2.31 mu m, and zeta potential values were -38.00 +/- 1.00 mV and -34.60 +/- 2.03 mV, respectively. The encapsulation efficiencies of WPINs-SW-PE and WPINs-H-PE for Cur were 96.72 +/- 1.05% and 94.07 +/- 2.35%. The bio-accessibility of Cur of WPINs-SW-PE and WPINs-H-PE were 57.52 +/- 1.24% and 21.94 +/- 2.09%. In addition, WPINs-SW-PE had a better loading effect and antioxidant activities compared with WPINs-H-PE. SW could be a potential processing method to prepare a PE, laying the foundation for the subsequent production of functional foods.

Automated summary

This study aimed to design a Pickering emulsion stabilized by whey protein isolate nanofibers prepared with subcritical water to encapsulate and prevent curcumin degradation. Results showed that the subcritical water prepared whey protein isolate nanofibers-stabilized Pickering emulsion had better encapsulation efficiency and antioxidant activities compared to hydrothermally prepared whey protein isolate nanofibers-stabilized Pickering emulsion. This research provides a foundation for the subsequent production of functional foods.