Enhancing anthocyanin stability via co-assembled nanoencapsulation with tripeptides by intermolecular interaction

The high sensitivity of anthocyanins to environmental stressors poses significant challenges for their application in food. Encouraging progress has been made with peptide encapsulation strategies, which have enhanced the stability of anthocyanin. In this study, we employ cost–effective tripeptides for nanoencapsulation of anthocyanins and investigate the fundamental interactions between the peptides and anthocyanins using a simplified model that minimizes the influence of multiple amino acids. Our results demonstrated that the tripeptides (LWD, LWE, and LWH) form a stable co–assembled nanocomplex with cyanidin–3–O–glucoside (C3G) through π–π interactions, hydrogen bonds, and hydrophobic interactions, significantly enhancing C3G retention under conditions of high temperature, pH variation, and Cu 2+ exposure. These findings validate the hypothesis that tripeptides can stabilize C3G and imply that adjusting peptide composition may further optimize the peptide–C3G nanocomplex. Given peptides' diverse bioactivity, this approach may offer valuable insight for improving the nutritional profile of anthocyanins and fostering multifunctional food innovation. • Effective nanoencapsulation of anthocyanins by tripeptides. • Co-assembled nanocomplex stabilizes anthocyanins under environmental stress. • Peptide-anthocyanin interactions explored via a simple peptide model.