LAUSR

Eggplant peels (Solanum melongena L.) constitute a promising source of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and anthocyanins that are beneficial for human health. The objectives of this study were to extract the polyphenolics from eggplant peels and microencapsulation in selected polymers, such as pectin, carboxymethylcellulose and whey proteins hydrolysates by freeze-drying. A combination of ethanolic with ultrasound-assisted methods was used for the extraction, leading to an extract with antioxidant activity of 157.82 ± 9.46 mmol Trolox/g dry weight. The next experiment was to obtain bioactive peptide, both by experimental and predictive methods, which were further used as coating materials. The bioinformatics tools were used for checking the susceptibility of α-lactalbumin and β-lactoglobulin for digestion with thermolysin. The anthocyanins were encapsulated in different combinations of selected polymers, with encapsulation efficiency up to 77.60 ± 1.92%, highlighting a higher microencapsulation efficiency of carboxymethylcellulose to incorporate anthocyanins. Our results suggested whey peptides had a role in regulating the microencapsulation patterns, whereas carboxymethylcellulose and pectin favored filamentous structuring and double encapsulation, respectively. The in vitro tests showed high biocompatibility of powders cultivated in a cell culture of murine fibroblasts. A significant protective effect in simulated digestion was observed, with a controlled release in the intestinal juice. Accelerated storage stability test showed an increase in antioxidant activity.