In vitro Digestion of Emulsions in a Single Droplet via Multi Subphase Exchange of Simulated Gastrointestinal Fluids

Summary

A pendant drop surface film balance implemented with a multi-subphase exchange, nicknamed the OCTOPUS, allows for mimicking digestive conditions by the sequential subphase exchange of the original bulk solution with simulated gastrointestinal fluids. The simulated in vitro digestion is monitored by recording in situ the interfacial tension of the digested interfacial layer.

Abstract

Emulsions are currently being used to encapsulate and deliver nutrients and drugs to tackle different gastrointestinal conditions such as obesity, nutrient fortification, food allergies, and digestive diseases. The ability of an emulsion to provide the desired functionality, namely, reaching a specific site within the gastrointestinal tract, inhibiting/retarding lipolysis, or facilitating digestibility, ultimately depends on its susceptibility to enzymatic degradation in the gastrointestinal tract. In oil-in-water emulsions, lipid droplets are surrounded by interfacial layers, where the emulsifiers stabilize the emulsion and protect the encapsulated compound. Achieving a tailored digestibility of emulsions depends on their initial composition but also requires monitoring the evolution of those interfacial layers as they are subjected to different phases of gastrointestinal digestion. A pendant drop surface film balance implemented with a multi-subphase exchange allows for simulating the in vitro digestion of emulsions in a single aqueous droplet immersed in oil by applying a customized static digestion model. The transit through the gastrointestinal tract is mimicked by the subphase exchange of the original droplet bulk solution with artificial media, mimicking the physiological conditions of each compartment/step of the gastrointestinal tract. The dynamic evolution of the interfacial tension is recorded in situ throughout the whole simulated gastrointestinal digestion. The mechanical properties of digested interfaces, such as interfacial dilatational elasticity and viscosity, are measured after each digestion phase (oral, gastric, small intestine). The composition of each digestive media can be tuned to account for the particularities of the digestive conditions, including gastrointestinal pathologies and infant digestive media. The specific interfacial mechanisms affecting proteolysis and lipolysis are identified, providing tools to modulate digestion by the interfacial engineering of emulsions. The obtained results can be manipulated for designing novel food matrices with tailored functionalities such as low allergenicity, controlled energy intake, and decreased digestibility.

Introduction

Understanding how fat is digested, which involves emulsion digestion, is important to rationally design products with tailored functionality¹. The substrate for fat digestion is an emulsion since fat is emulsified upon consumption by mechanical action and mixing with biosurfactants in the mouth and stomach. Also, most of the fat consumed by humans is already emulsified (such as milk products), and in the case of infants or some elderly people, this is the only form of consumption. Hence, the design of emulsion-based products with specific digestion profiles is very important in nutrition¹. Moreover, emulsions can encapsu....

Protocol

1. Cleaning sequence for all glassware used in surface science experimentation

1. Scrub the glassware with a concentrated cleaning solution (see Table of Materials) diluted in water (10%).
2. Rinse thoroughly with a sequence of tap water, propanol, distilled water, and ultrapure water. Dry in a cabin and store in a closed cabinet until use.

2. Sample preparation

1. Prepare artificial digestive media according to.......

Discussion

This article describes a generalized protocol to measure in vitro digestion of interfacial layers by using pendant drop equipment. The protocol can be adjusted to the specific requirements of the experiment by tuning the composition of the digestive buffers, which are based on the INFOGEST^11,20 harmonized protocol to facilitate comparison with literature. The digestive enzymes and biosurfactants can be added individually, sequentially, or together. This .......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
Alpha-chymotrypsin from bovine pancreas	Sigma-Aldrich	C4129	Enzyme
Beta-lactoglobulin	Sigma-Aldrich	L0130	Emulsfier
Bovine Serum Albumin	Sigma-Aldrich	9048-46-8	Emulsfier
CaCl2	Sigma-Aldrich	10043-52-4	Electrolyte
Centrifuge	Kronton instruments	Centrikon T-124	For separating oil and resins
Citrus pectin	Sigma-Aldrich	P9135	Emulsfier
co-lipase FROM PORCINE PANCREAS	Sigma	C3028	Enzyme
CONTACTO	University of Granada (UGR)		https://core.ugr.es/dinaten/, last access: 07/18/2022
DINATEN	University of Granada (UGR)		https://core.ugr.es/dinaten/, last access: 07/18/2022
Gastric lipase	Lipolytech	RGE15-1G	Enzyme
Human Serum Albumin	Sigma-Aldrich	70024-90-7	Emulsifier
INFOGEST			http://www.proteomics.ch/IVD/
Lipase from porcine pancreas, type II	Sigma-Aldrich	L33126	Enzyme
Magnesium metasilicate resins	Fluka	1343-88-0	Resins to purify oil
Micro 90	International products	M-9051-04	Cleaner
NaCl	Sigma	7647-14-5	Electrolyte
NaH2PO4	Scharlau	10049-21-5	To prepare buffer
OCTOPUS	Producciones Científicas y Técnicas S.L. (Gójar, Spain)		Pendandt Drop Equipment implemented with multi subphase exchange
Olive oil	Sigma-Aldrich	1514	oil
Pancreatic from porcine pancreas	Sigma	P7545-25 g	Enzyme
Pepsin	Sigma-Aldrich	P6887	Enzyme
Pluronic F127	Sigma	P2443	Emulsifier
Pluronic F68	Sigma	P1300	Emulsfier
Sodium deoxycholate	Sigma		Bile salts
Sodium glycodeoxycholate	Sigma	C9910	Bile salts
Sodium taurocholate	Sigma	86339	Bile salts
Syringe Filter	Millex-DP	SLGP033R	Syringe Filter 0.22 µm pore size polyethersulfone
Trypsin	Sigma-Aldrich	T1426	Enzyme