Characterization, Formation Mechanism, and Curcumin Delivery of Buckwheat Peptide-Based Emulsion Gels
Xiaoyu Yin, Rumeng Yu, Junping Zhang, Mengru Yu, Chunyu Xiong, Lingxi Luo, Bo Zhang, Junfeng Fan, Weiwei Zhang, Yanyan Zhang, Bolin Zhang
Abstract
This study aimed to construct a natural peptide-based emulsion gel (PG) using small peptides (∼2.2 kDa) by mild enzymatic hydrolysis of buckwheat proteins. The obtained PG presented a porous and tight texture and solid-gel viscoelasticity compared with its parent protein-based emulsion gel. Meanwhile, it exhibited good resistance against heating and freeze-thawing. Furthermore, peptide-oil interaction analysis revealed that the gel matrix was enhanced by the hydrophobic aggregation between peptides and oil molecules, H-bonding interaction of peptide molecules, and peptide-oil aggregate repulsion force. Finally, in vitro intestinal digestion experiments demonstrated that PG could embed and pH-responsively release curcumin in the gastrointestinal tract at a release rate of 53.9%. The findings unfold promising opportunities for using natural PG in a range of applications relying on large proteins or other synthesized molecules.