title: Kafirin Protein Based Electrospun Fibers with Tunable Mechanical Property, Wettability, and Release Profile.
abstract: Kafirin (KAF), the prolamine protein from sorghum grain, is a promising resource for fabricating renewable and biodegradable materials. However, research efforts in fulfilling its potentials are still lacking. In this work, electrospun kafirin fibers from acetic acid/dichloromethane solutions are reported for the first time. Biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL) was blended with kafirin to obtain hybrid KAF/PCL fiber mats with desirable physical properties. Hydrogen bonding between the N-H group of kafirin and the C═O group of PCL was detected in each blended formulation. Our small-angle X-ray scattering results indicated that the long spacing decreased and the average spacing between crystalline lamellae of PCL increased with the increase of kafirin content. Compared to the hydrophobic surface of neat PCL fiber mat, KAF/PCL fiber mats under most of the blend ratios showed hydrophilic surface character, and the swelling property was composition-dependent. The fiber mats evolved from brittle ones to flexible ones with the increase of relative content of PCL. The most desirable mechanical performance was obtained at a kafirin/PCL mass blend ratio of 1:2. To simulate the nutraceutical release in body fluid, carnosic acid (CA) was selected as a nutraceutical model, and release behaviors in selected KAF/PCL fiber mats were found to be diffusion controlled. Whereas the amorphous region of kafirin dominated the release rate, PCL functioned as a hydrophobic skeleton to maintain the 3D scaffold of the fiber matrix. The fabricated KAF/PCL fiber mats open up new applications of underutilized cereal protein in nutraceutical delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey , 65 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, United States.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Synthetic Rubber & Laboratory of Advanced Power Sources, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC), Chinese Academy of Sciences , Changchun 130022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Ce
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey , 65 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, United States.
authors.forename: Huijuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Synthetic Rubber & Laboratory of Advanced Power Sources, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC), Chinese Academy of Sciences , Changchun 130022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Engineering Research Center of High Performance Plastics, Ministry of Education, College of Chemistry, Jilin University , Changchun 130012, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Synthetic Rubber & Laboratory of Advanced Power Sources, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry (CIAC), Chinese Academy of Sciences , Changchun 130022, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yunqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey , 65 Dudley Road, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08901, United States.
authors.forename: Qingrong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
mesh_terms: D001673:Biodegradation, Environmental; D057927:Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions; D008422:Materials Testing; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D011091:Polyesters / Q000737:chemistry; D053838:Scattering, Small Angle; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared; D017155:Wettability; D014961:X-Ray Diffraction
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins; D011091:Polyesters; C080615:kafirin protein, Sorghum bicolor; C016240:polycaprolactone
keywords: electrospinning; in vitro release; kafirin; mechanical properties; polycaprolactone