Modulation of V-type starch structures using aqueous ethanol solutions of different polarities for controlled curcumin encapsulation and release

Zhijie Zhu; Juan Tang; Xinxin Ma; Caihong Wang; Chengyi Sun; Yuqing Hu; Zhaoxian He; Xianfeng Du; Xu Chen

doi:10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.139405

Modulation of V-type starch structures using aqueous ethanol solutions of different polarities for controlled curcumin encapsulation and release

Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Jan 1:293:139405. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.139405. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Zhijie Zhu¹, Juan Tang¹, Xinxin Ma¹, Caihong Wang¹, Chengyi Sun¹, Yuqing Hu¹, Zhaoxian He¹, Xianfeng Du², Xu Chen³

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Jianghuai Agricultural Product Fine Processing and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Anhui Engineering Research Center for High Value Utilization of Characteristic Agricultural Products, College of Food and Nutrition, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China.
² Key Laboratory of Jianghuai Agricultural Product Fine Processing and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Anhui Engineering Research Center for High Value Utilization of Characteristic Agricultural Products, College of Food and Nutrition, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China. Electronic address: dxf@ahau.edu.cn.
³ Key Laboratory of Jianghuai Agricultural Product Fine Processing and Resource Utilization, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Anhui Engineering Research Center for High Value Utilization of Characteristic Agricultural Products, College of Food and Nutrition, Anhui Agricultural University, Hefei, China. Electronic address: cx16@ahau.edu.cn.

PMID: 39753165
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2024.139405

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of different-polarity aqueous ethanol solutions on the formation of V-type starch originating from corn starch. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the morphology of starch transformed from a random lamellar structure to a granular structure with decreasing solution polarity. When the ethanol concentration increased from 40 % to 60 %, the crystallinity and single-helix ratio of V-type starch increased from 9.66 % and 6.90 % to 29.77 % and 12.84 %, respectively. When the ethanol concentration was 100 %, the aforementioned parameters decreased to 21.31 % and 11.07 %, respectively. The crystallinity and curcumin encapsulation efficiency of the V-type starch reached their maximum values when this starch was prepared using 60 % aqueous ethanol. Furthermore, curcumin release experiments indicated that the produced starch-curcumin complex could resist gastric acid, and V-type starch with higher crystallinity exhibited a better sustained release effect in intestinal fluid. These results indicate that the formation of V-type starch can be finely regulated using aqueous ethanol solutions with different polarities, and such regulation is beneficial for the application of V-type starch in the oral delivery of guest molecules.

Keywords: Aqueous ethanol; Controlled encapsulation and release; Curcumin; Polarity molecule; V-type starch.