Structural Effects of Flavonoids on the Properties of Amylose-Lauric Acid-Flavonoid Complexes

Six flavonoids with one to six hydroxyl groups were studied to understand the effects of the phenolic structure on the formation and functionality of amylose (AM)-lauric acid (LA)-flavonoid complexes. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations showed that all six flavonoids became attached to or encased by AM chains to form AM-LA-flavonoid complexes. The flavonoids with two, three, four, and five hydroxyl groups followed an increasing trend of interacting more strongly with AM, as evidenced by the increasing complexing index (from 21.7 to 29.3%). In contrast, the flavonoids with one and six hydroxyl groups did not follow this trend, indicating that other features of the flavonoids, including hydrophobicity, may also influence the formation of ternary complexes with AM-LA. Notably, the flavonoid structure had no obvious effects on the structure of complexes. The digestion rate and antioxidant properties of AM-LA-flavonoid complexes were mainly determined by the amounts of complexes and the antioxidant activity of flavonoids.