Impact of dietary fibers on the properties and proteolytic digestibility of lactoferrin nano-particles

The application and development of biopolymer-based particulate delivery systems is receiving considerable attention from scientists and manufacturers seeking to engineer healthier and safer foods. Present work focused on the fabrication and proteolysis of bovine lactoferrin nano-particles onto which pectins, alginate and carrageenan were electrostatically deposited. DLS, CD and AFM were used to ascertain the formation of spherical structures with varying zeta potentials and modified protein folding. SDS-PAGE analyses of samples collected during simulated human gastro-duodenal digestion revealed that in the case of high and low methoxy pectin particle zeta potential values (−35.4 mV and −50.3 mV respectively) were found to be inversely linked to lactoferrin digestion rate. Moreover, the electrostatic binding of food grade iota-carrageenan onto lactoferrin nano-particles was found to yield highly charged particles (zeta = −69.2 mV) with low surface roughness and to enable a proportion of the lactoferrin to resist 1 h of simulated gastric digestion. Overall, these findings suggest that electrostatic biopolymer interactions may modulate protein digestion and possibly facilitate controlled protein delivery to the upper gastrointestinal tract or have implications to protein nutritional value.