Preparation and chemical properties of microencapsulation developed with mulberry anthocyanins and silk fibroin

Anthocyanins, as natural pigments with bright color and non-toxic side effect, are widely used in the agricultural products processing field. In the present research, mulberry anthocyanin microcapsules were prepared with silk fibroin and gum arabic as wall materials for the possible application in cosmetics industry. Anthocyanin microcapsule encapsulation efficiency was up to 95.71% in the condition of silk fibroin: gum arabic at 2:1, wall-core ratio of 7.5:1 and solid content at 15%. Microcapsules improved the thermal stability and pH stability of mulberry anthocyanins with higher retention rates. Besides, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and fourier transform infrared (FTIR) were applied to analyze the surface morphology, structure, crystallinity and thermal properties of mulberry anthocyanin microcapsules. The results indicated that anthocyanins were embedded in the capsules with crystalline structures, good encapsulation and enhanced thermal stability.