Electrospun Protein Nanofibers and Their Food Applications

Abstract

Electrospun nanofibers with their large surface area, high porosity, small pore sizes, and ability of the high loading of active agents possess many structural and functional advantages for food applications. Proteins play significant roles in physicochemical and structural properties in foods. There has been a great interest in using proteins for the fabrication of nanofibers through electrospinning technique. Due to their molecular weight, most of the proteins are non-spinnable alone however; their spinnability can be enhanced by the incorporation of food-grade biocompatible polymers. In this review, the basics of the electrospinning technique were introduced first, followed by detailed information about electrospun nanofibers formed using plant and animal proteins. Common polymers blended with proteins to enhance their spinnability were also discussed. It the last part, the use of electrospun nanofibers in various food applications such as encapsulation of bioactive components, enzyme immobilization, and food packaging was emphasized.

Agro-Industrial Plant Proteins in Electrospun Materials for Biomedical Application

“…Although simple in its popular device set-up the process is quite complex since it is based on both: the physical parameters phenomena, involving the high voltage power supply (electrostatic charges), flow rate, and needle to collector distance; as well as the rheological properties of the polymer solution, conductivity, viscosity, and surface tension. Having this in mind and the forth-mentioned protein structure, its spinnability should be properly designed by manipulating its conformation as well as aggregation property [ 16 ]. Other characteristics that affect the formation and uniformity of the protein electrospun fibers would be its molecular weight, surface charge, ionic, hydrogen and intra/intermolecular disulfide bonds, unfolding degree, and chain entanglement.…”

“…The electrical voltage as well as the conductivity should also be optimal to further provide a workable condition for the process [ 21 ]. Generally, plant proteins are electrospun together with other well-spinnable polymers, except for zein or amaranth protein isolate, which are reported to be electrospun alone or with other polymers as well [ 16 ]. The most advantageous function of the plant protein fibers would be their ability to carry sensitive bioactive compounds (i.e., curcumin, quercetin, essential oils, etc.)…”

Synthesis and air permeability of electrospun PAN/PVDF nanofibrous membranes

“…Electrospun nanofibers (NFs) are important nanomaterials with their large high porosity, specific surface area, small pore size, and well-connected pore structure [2]. Some of the potential application areas of the electrospun NFs are filtration membranes [3], drug delivery [4], tissue engineering [5,6], catalysts [7], actuators [8], food packaging [9], etc.…”

Polyacrylonitrile (Pan) Electrospun Nanofibers Coated 3d Printed Pla Materials With Different Infill Patterns and Their Tensile Properties

“…The electrospinning technique provides a convenient approach to producing continuous nano-scale fibers [9]. Electrospun nanofibers are important nanomaterials with their large high porosity, specific surface area, small pore size, and well-connected pore structure [10] and find use in many application areas; filtration membranes [11], drug delivery [12], tissue engineering [13,14], catalysts [15], actuators [16], food packaging [17], etc. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) which is a synthetic polymer having a semi-crystalline structure, is thermally stable and degrades over 300 °C [18].…”