article info abstract
Article history:
Received 28 September 2015
Received in revised form 5 February 2016
Accepted 5 February 2016
Available online 6 February 2016
Ganoderma lucidum spores (GLSs), popular functional food in preventive medicine, are susceptible to oxidative
and acidic degradation during processing, storage and oral administration, resulting in the loss of sensory and
nutritional qualities. The main objective of the study was to encapsulate the GLS in order to fully preserve the
bioactivity of the ingredients as well as providing controlled and targeted delivery. Electrospraying was applied
to prepare GLS–Alginate (GLS/A) micro beads in the current study. The size of GLS/A beads can be tailored by
varying the applied voltage and drying processes. pH responsive release profiles of GLS/A beads were revealed
from in vitro study in a simulated gastrointestinal environment: no release of GLS encapsulated beads in the simulated
gastric fluid (pH of 1.8) was observed; while a rapid, size dependent release was found in the simulated
intestinal solution (pH of 7.5). The release from smaller beads (e.g. 600 μm) was 1.5 times faster than that of larger
beads (e.g. 2000 μm). In addition, the GLS release from freeze dried beads was almost 3 times faster than those
of air and vacuum dried beads in the first 90 min. The present results illustrate the potential to protect GLS by
encapsulation using electrospraying to achieve the controlled release of GLS ingredients. This will pave the
way to develop effective GLS products with desirable bioactive components for healthcare applications.
© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:
Encapsulation
Alginate
Electrospray
Ganoderma lucidum spore