Enhancing oxidative stability of encapsulated echium oil by incorporation of saffron extract loaded nanoliposomes into electrospun pullulan-pea protein isolate-pectin

The effects of addition of saffron extract (SE) or SE loaded nanoliposomes (SELN) were studied on the morphology and oxidative stability of echium oil (EO)-loaded nanofibers (NFs) containing pulllan (Pul)-pectin (Pec) or Pul-pea protein isolate (PPI)-Pec. The electrospinning blends containing 20 wt% EO and 1 wt% SE or SELN were electrospun into NFs at the applied voltage of 11 kV, the feed rate of 0.8 mL h⁻¹ and the distance to the collector plate of 15 cm. Encapsulation efficiency (EE) of SE and EO embedded into blends were higher than 70% and 65%, respectively. The A 3010 cm⁻¹/A 2925 cm⁻¹ ratio (representing the unsaturation degree of the oil) was obtained from the FTIR spectra of EO encapsulated in blend NFs during different storage days (50 °C). The changes in the values of this ratio for different blend NFs showed the increasing trend and also the highest values of this ratio for EO-loaded PPI-Pul-Pec NFs with SELN, confirms the better protection of EO against oxidation provided by it. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) also was used for the kinetic analyses of EO oxidation. The highest E_a value (100.8 Kj.mol⁻¹) observed in SELN loaded PPI-Pul-Pec NFs. The protective effect have been found for SELN by up to a threefold increase of oxidation induction time at 20 °C (Ot₂₀) compared to the control. Consequently, the fibers obtained in this study have potential to be used in development of omega-3 nanodelivery systems, which can be further employed to fortified or functional foods or pharmaceutical products.