Fabrication and Characterization of Starch Nanohydrogels via Reverse Emulsification and Internal Gelation

Abstract

Biopolymer-based nanohydrogels have great potential for various applications, including in food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical industries. Herein, starch nanohydrogels were prepared for the first time via reverse emulsification coupled with internal gelation. The effects of starch type (normal corn, potato, and pea starches), amylose content, and gelation time on the structural, morphological, and physicochemical properties of starch nanohydrogels were investigated. The diameter of starch nanohydrogel particles was around 100 nm after 12 h of retrogradation time. The relative crystallinity and thermal properties of starch nanohydrogels increased gradually with an increasing amylose content and gelation time. The swelling behavior of starch nanohydrogels was dependent upon the amylose content, and the swelling ratios were between 2.0 and 14.0, with the pea starch nanogels exhibiting the lowest values and the potato starch nanogels exhibiting the highest values.

Starch‐based nanoparticles: Stimuli responsiveness, toxicity, and interactions with food components

“…There are different approaches to prepare starch nanogels, including reverse emulsification, chemical cross‐linking, and self‐assembly methods. Starch nanogels were prepared with a diameter of 100 nm by inverse emulsification combined with an internal gelation process (Ji et al., 2018). Binh, Pham Thi Thu, Nguyen Ngoc, Nguyen Thanh, and Nguyen Nguyet (2012) prepared CMS nanogels with a particle size of less than 50 nm through a radiation cross‐linking process using an electron beam linear accelerator.…”

Formation and emulsification properties of self‐assembled potato protein microgel particles under different pH conditions

“…Interestingly, the microstructure of PPM6 was similar to rapeseed protein nanogel, which has a core − shell nanostructure with a light core and a dark shell (Wang et al ., 2019). Moreover, slightly smaller particle sizes were determined by TEM compared to those obtained from Zetasizer measurements, which was due to water‐swelling characteristics of microgels when samples were suspended in the aqueous media (Ji et al ., 2018).…”

Natural Probiotics and Nanomaterials: A New Functional Food

“…Nanohydrogels are defined as an infinite network of hydrophilic three-dimensional polymers swollen by water without losing their interconnected porous structure, expanding, and disintegrating [81][82][83]. For application in food, they must be composed Natural Probiotics and Nanomaterials: A New Functional Food DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98984 of non-toxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible biopolymers to deliver bioactive compounds in / or through the mucosa of the gastrointestinal tract.…”