title: Encapsulation of β-carotene within ferritin nanocages greatly increases its water-solubility and thermal stability.
abstract: Carotenoids may play a number of potential health benefits for human. However, their use in food industry is limited mostly because of their poor water-solubility and low thermal stability. Ferritins are widely distributed in nature with a shell-like structure which offers a great opportunity to improve the water-solubility and thermal stability of the carotenoids by encapsulation. In this work, recombinant human H-chain ferritin (rHuHF) was prepared and used to encapsulate β-carotene, a typical compound among carotenoids, by taking advantage of the reversible dissociation and reassembly characteristic of apoferritin in different pH environments. Results from high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), UV/Vis spectroscopy and transmission electron microscope (TEM) indicated that β-carotene molecules were successfully encapsulated within protein cages with a β-carotene/protein molar ratio of 12.4-1. Upon such encapsulation, these β-carotene-containing apoferritin nanocomposites were water-soluble. Interestingly, the thermal stability of the β-carotene encapsulated within apoferritin nanocages was markedly improved as compared to free β-carotene. These new properties might be favourable to the utilisation of β-carotene in food industry.
authors.affiliation: CAU & ACC Joint-Laboratory of Space Food, College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing Key Laboratory of Functional Food from Plant Resources, Beijing 100083, PR China.
authors.forename: Lingli
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Guangling
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bai
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jiachen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zang
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Guanghua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D004337:Drug Carriers / Q000737:chemistry*; D004339:Drug Compounding / Q000379:methods*; D004355:Drug Stability; D005293:Ferritins / Q000737:chemistry*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry; D012995:Solubility; D019207:beta Carotene / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004337:Drug Carriers; D019207:beta Carotene; D005293:Ferritins
keywords: Encapsulation; Ferritin; Thermal stability; β-Carotene