{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T21:00:35Z","timestamp":1792789235900,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"19","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790899200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada","id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h531d29","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h531d29","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Foods"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Zein protein nanoparticles are fabricated in two anionic polysaccharides, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and xanthan gum (XG), using the anti-solvent method. The rheological behavior and surface-active properties of dispersions of zein nanoparticles in polysaccharides are investigated. Two sets of experiments are carried out. In one set, the zein concentration is fixed at 1 wt% and the concentrations of the polysaccharides varied from 0 to 1 wt% in increments of 0.2 wt%. In the second set of experiments, the zein concentration varies from 1 to 5 wt% at a fixed polysaccharide concentration of 0.5 wt%. The SEM images clearly show the formation of zein nanoparticles in polysaccharides. Polysaccharide solutions and zein nanoparticle-polysaccharide dispersions exhibit shear-thinning rheological behavior and follow the power-law model adequately. With the addition of zein, the consistency of zein nanoparticle\u2013CMC dispersions increases, and they become more shear-thinning in comparison to pure CMC solutions. With the increase in zein concentration at a fixed CMC concentration, the consistency rises sharply up to 4 wt% zein concentration and then drops substantially, with a further increase in zein concentration. The addition of zein to XG solutions exhibits a more complex rheological behavior. The consistency index decreases with the addition of zein to XG solutions when XG concentration is less than 0.7 wt%. At higher XG concentrations, the consistency index increases with the addition of zein to XG solutions. With the increase in zein concentration at a fixed XG concentration, the consistency decreases substantially over the full range of zein concentration investigated. The surface tension of CMC solutions is strongly affected by the addition of zein nanoparticles. It decreases substantially with the addition of zein to CMC solutions. The surface tension behavior of zein nanoparticle-XG dispersions is like that of zein nanoparticle\u2013CMC dispersions. The transitions in rheological and surface-active properties of zein nanoparticle-polysaccharide dispersions are explained in terms of microstructure of the dispersions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/foods15193529","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]],"date-time":"2026-10-02T09:10:48Z","timestamp":1790932248000},"page":"3529","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Zein Protein Nanoparticles: Fabrication and Rheology of Their Dispersions in Polysaccharides"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Siyi","family":"Li","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-2175-8228","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rajinder","family":"Pal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"data-curation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"visualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"project-administration","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"849","article-title":"Preparation and characterization of zein nanoparticles by anti-solvent precipitation method","volume":"68","author":"Song","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Agric. Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"137085","article-title":"Polysaccharide-mediated stabilization and functional improvement of zein-based colloidal systems","volume":"430","author":"Wang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_3","first-page":"447","article-title":"Preparation and characterization of zein nanoparticles","volume":"35","author":"Patel","year":"2014","journal-title":"Food Hydrocoll."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1173","DOI":"10.1007\/s00396-008-1882-2","article-title":"Rheological properties of carboxymethyl cellulose solutions","volume":"286","author":"Benchabane","year":"2008","journal-title":"Colloid Polym. Sci."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"344","DOI":"10.1021\/acsapm.8b00110","article-title":"Characterization of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose aqueous solutions to support complex product formulation: A rheology and light scattering study","volume":"1","author":"Behra","year":"2019","journal-title":"ACS Appl. Polym. Mater."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106352","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodhyd.2020.106352","article-title":"Effects of lyophilization and low-temperature treatment on the properties and conformation of xanthan gum","volume":"112","author":"Wang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Food Hydrocoll."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"107052","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodhyd.2021.107052","article-title":"Comparing rheological, tribological and sensory properties of microfibrillated cellulose dispersions and xanthan gum solutions","volume":"121","author":"Blok","year":"2021","journal-title":"Food Hydrocoll."},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"13445","article-title":"Fabrication, characterization, and cytotoxicity evaluation of zein nanoparticles for co-delivery of curcumin and quercetin","volume":"67","author":"Zou","year":"2019","journal-title":"J. Agric. Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2380","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodhyd.2009.06.015","article-title":"Zein nanoparticles produced by liquid\u2013liquid dispersion","volume":"23","author":"Zhong","year":"2009","journal-title":"Food Hydrocoll."},{"key":"ref_10","first-page":"134823","article-title":"Formation of zein\u2013carboxymethyl cellulose nano-networks and their structural properties","volume":"405","author":"Wan","year":"2023","journal-title":"Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_11","first-page":"3362","article-title":"Development of zein nanoparticles coated with carboxymethyl chitosan for encapsulation and controlled release","volume":"59","author":"Luo","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Agric. Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"747","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijbiomac.2020.03.078","article-title":"Development of food-grade Pickering emulsions stabilized by a biological macromolecule (xanthan gum) and zein","volume":"153","author":"Santos","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Biol. Macromol."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"132926","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodchem.2022.132926","article-title":"Zein-whey protein isolate-carboxymethyl cellulose complex as carrier of apigenin via pH-driven method: Fabrication, characterization, stability, and in vitro release property","volume":"387","author":"Liu","year":"2022","journal-title":"Food Chem."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"106452","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodhyd.2020.106452","article-title":"Rheological and structural properties of plant protein\u2013polysaccharide composite systems: A review","volume":"112","author":"Giteru","year":"2021","journal-title":"Food Hydrocoll."},{"key":"ref_15","first-page":"260","article-title":"Effect of Zein Protein on Rheological and Hydrophobicity of Gellan Gum-based Food Packaging Film","volume":"25","author":"Thoo","year":"2023","journal-title":"Malays. J. Chem."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gagliardi, A., Voci, S., Salvatici, M.C., and Fresta, M. (2020). Zein-based materials for biomedical and food applications: A review. Molecules, 25.","DOI":"10.3390\/molecules25143174"},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"234","article-title":"Interaction and rheological behavior of zein\u2013polysaccharide composite systems","volume":"163","author":"Li","year":"2020","journal-title":"Int. J. Biol. Macromol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"116948","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodres.2025.116948","article-title":"Comparative evaluation of stability and interfacial characteristics of Pickering emulsions co-stabilized by zein and hydrocolloids: Role of charge profile, emulsifying ability, and rheological properties","volume":"218","author":"Polo","year":"2025","journal-title":"Food Res. Int."},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2772","DOI":"10.1007\/s11694-022-01386-2","article-title":"Influence of xanthan gum on properties and stability of oil-in-water Pickering emulsions stabilized by zein colloidal particles","volume":"16","author":"Sriprablom","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Food Meas. Charact."},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"134827","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijbiomac.2024.134827","article-title":"Co-encapsulation of quercetin and resveratrol: Comparison in different layers of zein-carboxymethyl cellulose nanoparticles","volume":"278","author":"Chen","year":"2024","journal-title":"Int. J. Biol. Macromol."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4108","DOI":"10.1111\/1750-3841.15535","article-title":"Development of a nanoparticle delivery system based on zein\/polysaccharide complexes","volume":"85","author":"Li","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Food Sci."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"213","DOI":"10.1016\/j.colsurfa.2017.08.019","article-title":"Surface tension measurement with a smartphone using a pendant drop","volume":"533","author":"Chen","year":"2017","journal-title":"Colloids Surf. A"},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"289","DOI":"10.1002\/andp.19063240204","article-title":"Eine neue Bestimmung der Molekuldimension","volume":"19","author":"Einstein","year":"1906","journal-title":"Ann. Phys."},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"196","DOI":"10.1021\/acspolymersau.1c00028","article-title":"Quantifying Properties of Polysaccharide Solutions","volume":"1","author":"Sayko","year":"2021","journal-title":"ACS Polym. Au"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"109116","DOI":"10.1016\/j.foodhyd.2023.109116","article-title":"The linear\/nonlinear rheological behaviors of Pickering emulsion stabilized by Zein and Xanthan gum: Effect of interfacial assembly strategies","volume":"145","author":"Chen","year":"2023","journal-title":"Food Hydrocoll."},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6362","DOI":"10.1039\/C9SM01112A","article-title":"Transient measurement and structure analysis of protein-polysaccharide multilayers at fluid interfaces","volume":"15","author":"Bertsch","year":"2019","journal-title":"Soft Matter"}],"container-title":["Foods"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2304-8158\/15\/19\/3529\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,4]],"date-time":"2026-10-04T04:16:30Z","timestamp":1791087390000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2304-8158\/15\/19\/3529"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]]},"references-count":26,"journal-issue":{"issue":"19","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10]]}},"alternative-id":["foods15193529"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/foods15193529","relation":{},"ISSN":["2304-8158"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2304-8158","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,2]]}}}