Preparation of phycocyanin microcapsules and its properties

Abstract

a b s t r a c tPhycocyanin was microencapsulated by an extrusion method using alginate and chitosan as coating materials. This work was aimed to optimize the encapsulation process, characterize the physicochemical properties of microcapsules, and evaluate the storage stability and in vitro release performance. The optimum process conditions for preparing microcapsule gained from the single factor experiments were as follows: alginate content 2.5%, ratio of phycocyanin to alginate 1.5:1, content of calcium chloride 2.5%, and chitosan content 2.0%. Phycocyanin/alginate/chitosan microcapsules (PACM) were found to have compact spherical shape with mean diameters of 1.03 mm, whereas phycocyanin/alginate microspheres (PAM) were internal porous spherical appearances with mean diameters of 1.81 mm. Storage stability study showed that encapsulation by alginate and chitosan conferred greater ability to phycocyanin against temperature during storage. In vitro release study revealed that both PAM and PACM could be resistant against acidic environment, and would rapidly release phycocyanin under mild alkali condition. The sustained-release profile of phycocyanin from PACM was superior to that from PAM.© 2013 The Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Keywords: Microcapsule; Phycocyanin; Alginate; Chitosan IntroductionPhycocyanin is a blue phycobiliprotein, composed of two relatively homologous subunits: the ␣-chain with one phycocyanobilin attached at cysteine 84 and the ␤-chain with two phycocyanobilins attached at cysteines 84 and 155. The two subunits form ␣␤ monomers, which aggregate into ␣ 3 ␤ 3 trimers and further into disc-shaped ␣ 6 ␤ 6 hexamers, the functional unit of phycocyanin (Eriksen, 2008). It has good therapeutic values, such as antioxidative, immunomodulating, anti-cancer, antiviral, anti-allergic, anti-mutagenic, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, blood vessel-relaxing and blood lipid-lowering activities (Thangam et al., 2013), which made it a better active ingredient in functional food. It is also used as natural dyes in food including chewing gum, ice sherbets, soft drinks, and candies, and cosmetics including lipstick and eyeliners, replacing the synthetic colourants (Chaiklahan et al., 2011). Another application of phycocyanin is as phycofluor probes for immunodiagnosis owing to its fluorescence properties. However, its application is often limited by the instability towards moisture, light and temperature due to the degradation of the protein fraction (Chaiklahan * Corresponding author. , 2012). Studies show that microencapsulation is an effective and economical method for protecting natural colourants against adverse conditions (Rocha et al., 2012). Therefore, it was inferred that the stability of phycocyanin should be improved using microencapsulation technologies. However, up to now, reports were scarce about phycocyanin microencapsulation. Microencapsulation is a technique by which the sensitive ingredients, called core materials, are entrapped in coati...

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