Enzymatic protein hydrolysates of milk are used as a protein component of functional foods intended for children, athletes, and senior citizens. They are easy to absorb and possess hypoallergenic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antimutagenic properties. However, the peptides in their composition have a bitter taste, which limits the use of milk protein hydrolysates in food industry. Functional foods are often fortified with fat-soluble vitamins and other hydrophobic ingredients. They require multicomponent compositions that contain both hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds. Complexes of β-cyclodextrins with peptides of whey protein hydrolyzates and fat-soluble vitamins can solve this problem.
The present research featured nanocomplexes of β-cyclodextrins with whey peptides and their multicomponent mixes with vitamins D3 and A. The methodology involved HPLC-MS, electrophoresis, thermogravimetry, and fluorimetry.
The obtained clathrates were used to develop new multicomponent compositions for functional nutrition. The article introduces a new production method for hypoallergenic peptide fractions with a molecular weight of 300–1500 Da from enzymatic whey protein hydrolyzates. The obtained peptides contained 6–14 amino acid residues and demonstrated hypoallergenic properties because they contained no antigenic determinants capable of causing IgE synthesis. The complexes of inclusion contained hydrolyzate peptides of dairy proteins and fat-soluble vitamins A and D3. The research revealed some antioxidant and antimutagenic properties, as well as the toxicological and hygienic profile of the clathrates. The resulting peptide clathrates had a less bitter taste. The inclusion complexes of fat-soluble vitamins D3:β-cyclodextrins, and A:β-cyclodextrins could be converted from an olive oil solution into a soluble powder. 100 g of the multicomponent composite contained 47.0 g of whey protein hydrolyzate of low molecular weight fraction peptides, 1.06 mg of vitamin D3 (42 500 IU), 3.44 mg of vitamin A (10 000 IU), and 1.54 g of olive oil. The article also describes the structural and functional properties of the inclusion complexes. Nanocomplexes of whey protein hydrolyzate of low molecular weight fraction peptides:β-cyclodextrins, D3:β-cyclodextrins, and A:β-cyclodextrins and their multicomponent composite were tested for toxicological and hygienic properties using Tetrahymena pyriformis. They appeared to belong to the 5th hazard class in terms of the average lethal dose (non-hazardous substances).
The obtained powder forms of fat-soluble vitamins and peptides are easily dosed and can be used to design new functional foods.
