Enhancing stability and antioxidant activity of lyophilized guar gum-coated neohesperidin-loaded nano-nutriosomes in functional dairy beverages

Neohesperidin (NH) is among the most promising flavonoids, but its use in functional foods, particularly beverages, is limited due to its low water solubility, instability, and biological activity. A new freeze-dried guar gum-coated nano-nutriosomes (FD-GG-NS) has demonstrated significant potential in addressing these issues. The objective of this work was to create and evaluate novel freeze-dried guar gum-coated nano-nutriosomes that would increase the physicochemical stability and antioxidant activity of NH in dairy-based beverages. The findings displayed that NH was successfully encapsulated in freeze-dried NS and GG-NH-NS, with good encapsulation efficacy (>94.64 %) and particle sizes ranging from 152.47 ± 1.74 to 194.63 ± 0.44 nm within an acceptable range PDI (<0.3). In addition, the FD-NH-NS had more stability in 10 mM NaCl and hydrophilic conditions during the storage period. Firstly, 0.4 % was determined to be the ideal concentration due to better stability and dietary fiber content. The FD-GG-NH-NS in dairy beverages enhanced the color, turbidity, ζ-potential, and sensory aspects, while decreasing viscosity and acidity with better antioxidant activity during the storage period, and better-controlled release of NH in SGF and SIF conditions. Therefore, incorporating NH into functional dairy drinks via guar gum-coated nano-nutriosomes has numerous applications in the food industry.