Journal of Food Processing & Technology

Abstract

Stability of Nano Encapsulated Rice Bran Derived Bioactive Pentapeptide in Apple Juice

Fatima Alessa, Navam Hettiarachchy, Srinivas J Rayaprolu, Mourad Benamara, Denise Greathouse and Surendra Singh

Bioactive compounds can be derived from cereal grains and their components such as rice bran. These bioactive compounds have a potency to promote health. A pentapeptide with a sequence of amino acids Glu-Gln-Arg-Pro-Arg (EQRPR) prepared from heat stablized defatted rice bran (HDRB) has demonstrated multi-site anti-cancer properties in human cell lines. Fruit juces can be used as vehicles to incorporate the pentapeptide as a nutraceutical. To address the stability of the pentapeptide in the beverage and to prevent possible interactions with other components, nano-encapsulation with poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) was used to deliver the bioactive ingredient. The nano-encapsulated pentapeptide (concentrations: 200/400/600 μg/mL) in the apple juice (model system) showed significant stability with no degradation for 2 months based on the high performance liquid chromatography analysis. The nanoparticles were uniform and stable with an effective diameter ranging between 82 and 83 nm and the results also indicated that there were no significant changes in the size over a storage period of 60 days. There was no microbial growth observed in the prepared apple juice samples. The un-encapsulated pentapeptide incorporated in the apple juice showed significant degradation after 7 days of storage. The PLGA nanoparticles showed a remarkable effect in protecting and stabilizing the bioactive compounds (pentapeptide) during the storage period at 4°C. The PLGA nanoparticles can thus be a promising carrier for the bioactive pentapeptide when incorporated into a juice medium.