Research Information System
FOOD BIOSCIENCE, vol.53, pp.102660, 2023 (SCI-Expanded)
L-carnosine (Car), an antioxidative dipeptide, is a promising health-promoting bioactive agent, which can be
isolated from animal waste. In the present study, Car loaded pullulan (Pul)-sodium alginate (NaAlg) based
nanofibrous delivery vehicles were fabricated by uniaxial, coaxial and emulsion electrospinning. The CaCl2
crosslinking was applied after electrospinning process to evaluate the effect on release behavior of Car. Results
showed that Car was successfully loaded in water-in-oil-in-water (W1/O/W2) double emulsion to produce
nanofibers by emulsion electrospinning. Encapsulation efficiencies were found to be 74.11% and 81.69% for the
uniaxial (UENFs) and coaxial nanofibers (CENFs), respectively. Encapsulation efficiency was determined for
different formulas of emulsions, whereas among the samples that could form nanofibers (NFs) and encapsulate
Car, the highest value was obtained for nanofibers from emulsion-VIII (EE-VIII NFs) at 68.63%. DPPH and
CUPRAC assays revealed that all electrospinning methods demonstrated protective effect on the antioxidant
activity of Car and thus helped in enhancing its antioxidant potential significantly. According to in vitro digestion
results, the release of Car from all electrospun NFs was predominantly controlled by Fickian diffusion mechanism.
The CaCl2 crosslinking treatment improved water resistance of NFs and enhanced sustained release of Car
in the gastrointestinal tract. The initial burst release of Car from EE-VIII NFs was significantly lower than for
UENFs and CENFs in the gastric phase, and the release from EE-VIII NFs in the intestinal phase was followed by
sustained release, with/without crosslinking treatment. It can therefore be said that the simultaneously encapsulation
of Car in double emulsion and in Pul-NaAlg based electrospun NFs can provide sustained release.