Replacing acetone with ethanol to dehydrate yeast glucan particles for microencapsulating anthocyanins from red radish (Raphanus sativus L.)

The anthocyanins in red radishes (ARR) mainly contain polyacylated pelargonidins with various activities. Although yeast glucan particles (YGPs) can encapsulate low molecular weight anthocyanins, it is unclear whether they can achieve the same with polyacylated anthocyanins. This study employed acid and alkali hydrolysis to prepare YGPs, which were then dehydrated with ethyl acetate, acetone, and ethanol, respectively. The acetone- and ethanol-treated YGPs displayed similar encapsulation efficiency (EE), exceeding those exposed to ethyl acetate. Ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry analysis showed that all the YGPs indistinguishably microencapsulated the polyacylated pelargonidins in ARR. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that ARR loading in the YGPs resulted from the transformation from a globular to plate YGP morphology. Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy indicated that YGP-embedded ARR did not cause chemical bond formation and rupture. The stability of the ARR in the ethanol-treated YGP was higher than in the YGP exposed to acetone, and lower than in YGP treated with ethyl acetate. Ethanol could replace acetone for YGP dehydration.