Formation of Zein Microphases in Ethanol−Water

Abstract

Zein, a major protein of corn, is soluble in binary mixtures of ethanol and water. It has an amphiphilic character and is capable of self-assembly into nano- and microsized rods, spheres, and films upon solvent evaporation. The formation of microspheres is of particular interest for the development of delivery systems. Control over structure formation requires a better understanding of zein behavior in solution. The objective of this work was to investigate the effect of zein concentration and the effect of ethanol-water ratio on the microphase behavior of zein solutions, believed to govern the morphology of microstructures after solvent evaporation. The Flory-Huggins solution theory was applied to model boundary lines between microphases in solution. The study generated information on the zein concentration-ethanol/water ratio conditions where microspheres are formed and provided insight into the microphase behavior of zein ethanolic solutions.

Two-step sequential cross-linking of sugar beet pectin for transforming zein nanoparticle-based Pickering emulsions to emulgels

“…All other reagents were of analytical grade. Zein nanoparticles were prepared by the solvent evaporation method (Wang & Padua, 2010) following the procedure reported in a previous study (Soltani & Madadlou, 2014). Briefly, zein powder was dissolved (2 mg mL -1 ) in 80% v/v aqueous ethanol solution and stirred at 700 rpm for 15 min at 25°C.…”

“…An exemplar SEM image of nanoparticles is shown in Figure 1 The surface tension of zein particles dispersion was ~28 mN m -1 indicating particles high affinity to locate on hydrophile-hydrophobe phases interface and reduce their contact area. This property is given by the amphiphilic nature of zein (Wang & Padua, 2010). All the zein-based Pickering emulsions prepared with different oil/aqueous phases ratios were however unstable considerably and broken down in <45 min.…”

Size-controlled fabrication of zein nano/microparticles by modified anti-solvent precipitation with/without sodium caseinate

“…The previously mentioned results revealed that particle formation in this study may be different from the cases reported before, in which ethanol evaporation induced layer-by-layer adsorption of zein to a central core or nucleus. 39,40 The layer-by-layer assembly requires a long time and slow ethanol evaporation without stirring, and thus burst nucleation and uniform particle growth would be less likely to occur.…”

Biodegradable Nanoparticles Obtained From Zein as a Drug Delivery System for Terpinen-4-Ol

“…6 The zein storage proteins are frequently found in maize endosperm, where they are deposited as protein bodies within the rough endoplasmic reticulum. 7,8 Zeins are renewable, biodegradable, biocompatible, and nontoxic. They have more hydrophobic than hydrophilic amino acids in their structure, making them insoluble in water, which is a requirement for the preparation of water-based formulations.…”