LAUSR

BACKGROUND Orange pomace polyphenols have potential for use as nutraceutical ingredients in functional foods and beverages. However, due to their low water solubility and bioaccesibility, they are not being utilized to their full potential. The goal of this research is to assess the impact of encapsulation on hesperetin (a model orange polyphenol) water solubility, antioxidant activity and in vitro bioaccessibility. RESULTS In this study, a citrus flavonoid aglycone, hesperetin (HT), was encapsuled within water-dispersible colloidal complexes (d = 350±8 nm) formed by electrostatic attraction of pea protein isolate (PPI) and high-methoxyl pectin (HMP) at a mixing ratio of 1:1 (v/v) and pH 4. The maximum amount of HT that could be dispersed in water was much higher for the encapsulated form (99±7 μg mL-1 ) than the non-encapsulated form (<10 μg mL-1 ). The radical scavenging activity of the encapsulated hesperetin (>90%, pH 4) was much higher than the non-encapsulated form (< 15% at pH 4 or 7). The in vitro bioaccessibility of encapsulated hesperetin (27±7%) was also much higher than the non-encapsulated form (<7%). CONCLUSION These results suggest that a well-designed, biopolymer-based delivery system may improve the effective incorporation of hesperetin, and potentially other orange pomace polyphenols, into food and beverage products. This could provide an additional high-value use for orange juicing byproducts while introducing a new nutraceutical product to the food and beverage industry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.