Preparation and characterization of potato protein-based microcapsules with an emphasis on interaction mechanism among the main components.

Potato protein (PP) has promising potential for utilization in food applications due to its high nutritive value and functional properties. Grapeseed oil (GO) is rich in unsaturated fatty acids and antioxidant active ingredients. However, its application is limited because of low stability and high volatility. In order to overcome such problems, PP-based microcapsules encapsulating GO were produced by complex coacervation, and characterized by optical, thermodynamic and spectroscopic analyses.Results indicated that ratio of GO/PP at 1:2 led to the best encapsulation effect with the maximum microencapsulation efficiency and yield. Intact and nearly spherical microcapsules were observed from SEM images. Results of TG demonstrated that thermal resistance was increased in the microencapsulated GO, indicating that PP-based microcapsules could be a good way to protect thermal stability of GO. FTIR spectra indicated that hydrogen bonding and covalent crosslinking might occur among wall materials, but a physical interaction between GO and wall materials.PP can be successfully used to encapsulate GO when combined with chitosan, indicating that PP-based microcapsules had potentials for application in encapsulating liquid oils with functional properties. The possible schematic diagram of interactions was performed to better understand the formation mechanism of microcapsules. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.