Improved stability and controlled release of lutein-loaded micelles based on glycosylated casein via Maillard reaction

Lutein was encapsulated in glycosylated micelles and the controlled delivery property was investigated. The particle size at different pH and CaCl2 concentration showed that the stability of micelles based on glycosylated casein was significantly superior to that of casein/dextran mixture. The bigger molecular weight of the dextran moieties attached to the casein molecules improved the steric hindrance effect. The cumulative release rate showed that lutein could be bound with glycosylated casein in the micelles and uniformly scattered in simulated gastric fluid, while micelles composed of casein and dextran mixtures rapidly disintegrated and released the embedding lutein within 0.5 h. Additionally, micelles based on glycosylated casein significantly increased the bioaccessibility of lutein from 14.63% to 62.45%. Therefore, glycosylated casein via Maillard reaction could be used as the carrier of lutein, which might effectively control its release behavior in the simulated gastrointestinal tract.