Preparation of starch-based oral fast-disintegrating nanofiber mats for astaxanthin encapsulation and delivery via emulsion electrospinning

Developing green and efficient delivery systems to promote bioavailability of bioactive ingredients is a sustained demand in food industry. In this work, the astaxanthin (AST)-loaded starch-based fast-dissolving nanofibers with core-shell structure were prepared by emulsion electrospinning technique without using any organic solvent. To load water-insoluble AST in hydrophilic octenyl succinic anhydride starch (OSAS)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofiber matrices, AST-loaded nanoscale emulsions (212.19 ± 5.63 nm) with high encapsulation efficiency (91.54 ± 0.14 %) were prepared as a precursor for emulsion electrospinning, using OSAS/PVA aggregates as an emulsifier. The core-shell structure of nanofibers was revealed by the Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), with average diameter of 509.58 ± 12.77 nm, and 88.64 ± 0.49 % for AST were effectively encapsulated in core layer. Nanofiber mats exhibited high encapsulation efficiency (85.11 ± 1.53 %) and excellent storage stability over 7 d. Meanwhile, amorphous transformation of AST enabled it possess higher water solubility, bioaccessibility, and antioxidant properties (97.72 ± 2.17 %) than free AST in aqueous system. The results demonstrated that the green, nontoxic, and biodegradable nanofiber mats prepared by emulsion electrospinning successfully realized the encapsulation and delivery of AST, with broad application prospects in the food and pharmaceutical fields.