Microcapsules with Protein Fibril Reinforced Shells: Effect of Fibril Properties on Mechanical Strength of the Shell

In this study, we produced microcapsules using layer-by-layer adsorption of food-grade polyelectrolytes on an emulsion droplet template. We compared the mechanical stability of microcapsules to shells consisting of alternating layers of ovalbumin-high methoxyl pectin (Ova-HMP) complexes and semi-flexible ovalbumin (Ova) fibrils (average contour length, L(c) ~ 200 nm), with microcapsules built of alternating layers of lysozyme-high methoxyl pectin (LYS-HMP) complexes and lysozyme (LYS) fibrils. Two types of LYS fibrils were used: short and rod-like (L(c) ~ 500 nm) and long and semi-flexible (L(c) = 1.2-1.5 μm). At a low number of layers (≤4), microcapsules from Ova complexes and fibrils were stronger than microcapsules prepared from LYS complexes and fibrils. With an increase of the number of layers, the mechanical stability of microcapsules from LYS-HMP/LYS fibrils increased significantly and capsules were stronger than those prepared from Ova-HMP/Ova fibrils with the same number of layers. The contour length of the LYS fibrils did not have a significant effect on mechanical stability of the LYS-HMP/LYS fibril capsules. The stiffer LYS fibrils produce capsules with a hard but more brittle shell, whereas the semi-flexible Ova fibrils produce capsules with a softer but more stretchable shell. These results show that mechanical properties of this type of capsule can be tuned by varying the flexibility of the protein fibrils.