LAUSR

The objectives of this study were to characterize the physicochemical properties and evaluate the antimicrobial capacity of polyelectrolyte complexes (PECs) consisting of cationic epsilon‐polylysine·HCl (e·PL·HCl) and anionic high‐methoxyl pectin (HMP). The physicochemical properties were analysed by microelectrophoresis (ζ‐potentials), mean diameter (Z‐average), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Experimental results indicated that PECs have different physicochemical properties or behaviour dependent on e·PL·HCl/HMP mass ratio and e·PL·HCl concentration. The antimicrobial activity was tested by minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), which showed that the PECs had effective antimicrobial activity. Finally, this study found that using an appropriate proportion of PECs could not only avoid the formation of undesirable precipitates resulting from the interaction between e·PL·HCl and anionic components within the soymilk systems, but also could extend their shelf‐life. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: e‐polylysine and its derivatives would interact with anionic components within foods and beverages through ionic adsorption resulting in forming undesirable precipitates, which will cause the decrease in its antimicrobial activity and the loss of food nutrients. In this study, HMP with e·PL·HCl were used to form polyelectrolyte complexes as antimicrobial delivery systems and further reveal their physicochemical and antimicrobial properties. They could be satisfactorily applied in soymilk systems without sacrificing effective antimicrobial activity of e·PL·HCl as well as avoiding undesirable precipitation. This information is expected to practical into protein‐containing beverage systems to extend their shelf‐life.