Impact of reaction sequence on the physicochemical stability and in vitro digestibility of β-carotene-loaded emulsions stabilized by a ternary covalent complex.

Baoning Zheng, Ying Zhu, Bingyu Sun, Linlin Liu, Mingshou Lv, Xiuqing Zhu, Yuyang Huang

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Article in Food chemistry: X, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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7 authors.

Baoning ZhengCollege of Food Engineering of Harbin University of Commerce, Key Laboratory of Food Science and Engineering of Heilongjiang Province, Key Laboratory of Grain Food and Comprehensive Processing of Grain Resource of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150076, China.

Ying ZhuCollege of Food Engineering of Harbin University of Commerce, Key Laboratory of Food Science and Engineering of Heilongjiang Province, Key Laboratory of Grain Food and Comprehensive Processing of Grain Resource of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150076, China.

Bingyu SunCollege of Food Engineering of Harbin University of Commerce, Key Laboratory of Food Science and Engineering of Heilongjiang Province, Key Laboratory of Grain Food and Comprehensive Processing of Grain Resource of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150076, China.

Linlin LiuCollege of Food Engineering of Harbin University of Commerce, Key Laboratory of Food Science and Engineering of Heilongjiang Province, Key Laboratory of Grain Food and Comprehensive Processing of Grain Resource of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150076, China.

Mingshou LvCollege of Food Engineering of Harbin University of Commerce, Key Laboratory of Food Science and Engineering of Heilongjiang Province, Key Laboratory of Grain Food and Comprehensive Processing of Grain Resource of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150076, China.

Xiuqing ZhuCollege of Food Engineering of Harbin University of Commerce, Key Laboratory of Food Science and Engineering of Heilongjiang Province, Key Laboratory of Grain Food and Comprehensive Processing of Grain Resource of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150076, China.

Yuyang HuangCollege of Food Engineering of Harbin University of Commerce, Key Laboratory of Food Science and Engineering of Heilongjiang Province, Key Laboratory of Grain Food and Comprehensive Processing of Grain Resource of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150076, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The construction of ternary covalent complexes using soy protein isolate (SPI), epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), and polydextrose (PD) via an alkaline-mediated Maillard reaction was investigated to stabilize β-carotene-loaded emulsions. This study investigated how the reaction sequence impacts emulsion stability and in vitro digestion. Results indicated that ternary complexes offered superior physical stability and antioxidant protection compared to SPI or binary systems(SPI-EGCG and SPI-PD). Crucially, the SPI-PD-EGCG sequence (protein-polysaccharide-polyphenol) outperformed the SPI-EGCG-PD sequence. The SPI-PD-EGCG emulsion demonstrated the highest thermal stability (85 ± 0.01% retention) and best storage performance after 21 days, characterized by the lowest oxidation levels (POV: 26.54 ± 0.12 mmol/L; TBARS: 4.51 ± 0.02 μmol/L), smallest particle size (516.77 ± 2.29 nm), and highest β-carotene retention (56 ± 0.01%). The SPI-PD-EGCG system showed the lowest free fatty acid release rate and β-carotene bioaccessibility, demonstrating that this ternary covalent complex offers superior protection for β-carotene in the simulated gastrointestinal environment by reducing its oxidative degradation during digestion.These findings highlight that systematically controlling the conjugation order is a vital strategy for designing efficient delivery systems for lipophilic bioactives. These findings provide a rational basis for designing efficient delivery systems for β-carotene and other fat-soluble nutrients.

Indexed as

Emulsion stabilityIn vitro digestionReaction sequenceTernary covalent complexΒ-Carotene

Identifiers

PMID42394679

DOI10.1016/j.fochx.2026.104124

PMCPMC13324673

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