Nanoencapsulation by electrospinning to improve stability and water solubility of carotenoids extracted from tomato peels

The current study demonstrated the electrospinning technique to stabilize the carotenoids. Gelatin nanofibers containing the carotenoids extracted from tomato peel (TP) were successfully fabricated with above 90% encapsulation efficiency by electrospinning. SEM analysis revealed that the extract-loaded fibers exhibit similar morphology as the neat fibers with a bead-free, smooth, and homogeneously-distributed morphology. Thermal stability of the extract was improved by nanoencapsulation. FTIR spectra showed that the TP extract could be compatibly entrapped into the gelatin fibers. Compared to non-encapsulated extract, the encapsulated one inside gelatin fibers had better retention of lycopene and antioxidant activity during 14-days storage. More interestingly, the water solubility of the carotenoid extract was highly enhanced compared to non-encapsulated one. By this study, it was realized that nanoencapsulation by electrospinning is an effective way to stabilize carotenoids and improve their water solubility, therefore it is promising to use them in food processing, especially including aqueous food matrix.