Vitamin D3 emulsions stabilized with pea proteins and arabinoxylans as a fortification strategy for plant-based beverages

Abstract

This study aimed at evaluating the potential of pea protein isolate (PPI) and corn arabinoxylans (CAX) as emulsifiers to develop plant-based drinks enriched in vitamin D3. The effect of PPI and CAX as emulsifiers on structural changes of emulsions during digestion, lipid digestion kinetics, final lipid digestion, and vitamin D3 bioaccessibility, alone or included in an oat milk (OM) drink, was assessed. PPI was used alone or in combination with corn arabinoxylans (PPI+CAX) and Tween 80 was used as a control emulsifier. All resulting emulsions presented small droplet sizes (D(3,2) = 0.57–2.58 µm). The incorporation of the emulsions into OM reduced the bridging phenomena observed in emulsions stabilized with PPI+CAX, hence presenting a higher colloidal stability. This incorporation also prevented droplet coalescence during digestion of emulsions, as shown in the microcopy images during oral and gastric digestion in the presence of PPI or PPI+CAX as emulsifiers. However, the incorporation of PPI and PPI+CAX emulsions into OM resulted in a decreased digestion rate compared to the emulsions alone. However, no significant differences were found in the final fatty acid or the bioaccessibility of vitamin D3. Taken together, these results underline the potential of PPI+CAX in the development of plant-based beverages efficiently supplying vitamin D3.

Ángela Bravo-Núñez’s competitive postdoctoral contract “Margarita Salas” was funded by the government of Spain (Ministerio de Univer- sidades) and by the European Union (NextGeneration-EU). This study was funded by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness of Spain (MINECO/FEDER, UE) throughout the project PID2022-137838OB- I00. Bench fees were partially covered by the “Centre de Recherche en CardioVasculaire et Nutrition” (Marseille, France).