Preparation and characterization of astaxanthin-loaded microcapsules stabilized by lecithin-chitosan-alginate interfaces with layer-by-layer assembly method
Abstract
Astaxanthin is a kind of keto-carotenes with various health benefits. However, its solubility and chemical stability are poor, which leads to low bio-availability. Microcapsules have been reported to improve the solubility, chemical stability, and bio-availability of lipophilic bioactives. Freeze-dried astaxanthin-loaded microcapsules were prepared by layer-by-layer assembly of tertiary emulsions with maltodextrin as the filling matrix. Tertiary emulsions were fabricated by performing chitosan and sodium alginate electrostatic deposition onto soybean lecithin stabilized emulsions. 0.9 wt% of chitosan solution, 0.3 wt% of sodium alginate solution and 20 wt% of maltodextrin were optimized as the suitable concentrations. The prepared microcapsules were powders with irregular blocky structures. The astaxanthin loading was 0.56 ± 0.05 % and the encapsulation efficiency was >90 %. A slow release of astaxanthin could be observed in microcapsules promoted by the modulating of chitosan, alginate and maltodextrin. In vitro simulated digestion displayed that the microcapsules increased the bio-accessibility of astaxanthin to 69 ± 1 %. Chitosan, alginate and maltodextrin can control the digestion of microcapsules. The coating of chitosan and sodium alginate, and the filling of maltodextrin in microcapsules improved the chemical stability of astaxanthin. The constructed microcapsules were valuable to enrich scientific knowledge about improving the application of functional ingredients.
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Sodium alginate coatings increased astaxanthin bioavailability by approximately 70% after alginate exposure to a pH close to neutral in intestinal digestive solution.
“when analyzing sodium alginate coatings, the bioavailability of astaxanthin increased by approximately 70% after the alginate was exposed to an environment with a pH close to neutral in the intestinal digestive solution (Huang et al., 2024).”
From Microalgae biotechnology and its role in sustainable and healthy food design (2025) · cites this paper as Huang et al., 2024
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- Authors
- Huang, J., Zhang, S., Liu, D., Feng, X., Wang, Q., An, S., Xu, M., & Chu, L.
- Affiliations
- Suzhou University of Technology (CN)
- Nanjing Forestry University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Huang, Juan
- Venue
- International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2024-05
- Volume
- 268
- Issue
- Pt 1
- Pages
- 131909
- ISSN
- 0141-8130 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W4395678635
- Cited by
- 33
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 13 · 2025: 13 · 2024: 7
- FWCI
- 7.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Biological Macromolecules (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Microencapsulation and Drying Processes
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Proteins in Food Systems
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Advanced Drug Delivery Systems
- Keywords
- astaxanthin, microcapsules, layer-by-layer assembly, chitosan, sodium alginate, soy lecithin, maltodextrin, encapsulation efficiency, bioaccessibility, in vitro digestion, slow release, chemical stability, ketocarotenoids, functional food ingredients
- MeSH terms
- Layer-by-Layer Nanoparticles, Alginates, Capsules, Drug Carriers, Drug Compounding, Emulsions, Polysaccharides, Xanthophylls, Chitosan, Lecithins
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