Nanoencapsulation of vitamin D3 by ultrasonic pretreated zein hydrolysates: Stability improvement in food models

This work is aimed to assess the effect of ultrasonic pre-treatment on the enzymatic hydrolysis of zein and the nanoencapsulation of vitamin D₃ (VitD₃) by zein hydrolysates (ZH). The ultrasonic pre-treatment significantly increased the degree of hydrolysis by and the α-helix, β-sheet, β-turns contents, and random coils were enhanced by ultrasonic pre-treatment. VitD₃ was successfully encapsulated by the developed ZH nanoparticles (NPs), with an encapsulation efficiency of 95.23 ± 1.78 %. The surface charge and particle size of the nanoparticles (NPs) were -5.45 ± 1.76 mV and 39.43 ± 7.96 nm, respectively. The detailed morphology study of NPs showed a regular spherical morphology, and the chemical structures of NPs were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Red spectroscopy. Additionally, the developed NPs were added to milk, which exhibited high stability after one month of storage. In conclusion, the VitD₃-loaded ZHNPs had considerable potential for fortifying different foodstuffs.