Improved stability and controlled release of lycopene via self-assembled nanomicelles encapsulation

Lycopene with many potential health-promoting attributes is chemically unstable and prone to degradation. This work aimed to develop nanomicelles based on amphiphilic peptides self-assembled for improving the water solubility and physicochemical stability of lycpoene. The amphiphilic peptides were obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis of β-lactoglobulin using recombinant lysyl endopeptidase. Subsequently, the lycopene was docked with amphiphilic peptides to study their binding potential. Furthermore, lycopene loaded nanomicelles were prepared and characterized, and their stability and in vitro simulated release were studied. As a result, lycopene could be embedded in nanomicelles via hydrophobic interaction and lycopene loaded nanomicelles showed spherical with a size approximately 20.00 nm. Circular dichroism results suggested that the secondary structure was changed in nanomicelles after its combination with lycopene. The stability of the encapsulated lycopene was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of the free lycopene under UV irradiation and 60 °C heating. The nanomicelles were designed as a new delivery vehicle for lycopene with embedded amount (354.00 mg/g). And lycopene exhibited controlled release behavior from the nanomicelles and its cumulative release amount was 30.29% after 24 h incubated in pH 7.00. The study demonstrated the β-lactoglobulin nanomicelles could be a potential strategy for the delivery of hydrophobic bioactive compounds.