Chia gum-gelatin-based encapsulation of chia sprouts phenolic compounds enhanced storage stability, bioavailability, antioxidant, antidiabetic, and antibacterial properties.

Chia seeds are currently gaining popularity as functional and healthy foods. The developed chia 7-day sprout phenolic extract (CSP) is an abundant supply of highly concentrated antioxidant phenolic compounds with health-promoting and antibacterial properties. The easy destruction against different environmental changes and low bioavailability of these phenolic compounds are the main limitations of their applications/utilization. This study aims to microencapsulate the phenolic compounds of developed CSP for use as valuable functional food additives. Three microcapsules were prepared using coating materials, chia gum (CG), gelatin (G), and their mixture (CG/G) via the freeze-drying technique. The prepared CG-, CG/G-, and G-microcapsules demonstrated high encapsulation efficiency percentages of 97.0, 98.1, and 94.5%, respectively. They retained most of the CSP-phenolics (91.4-97.2%) and increased total antioxidant activity (108-127.1%). The prepared microcapsules released more CSP-phenolic compounds into the simulated intestinal stage (70-82%) than the gastric stage (15-24%), demonstrating that the coating materials enhance protection during the gastric stage. The produced microcapsules exhibited higher storage stability at 40 °C for 60 days than the non-capsulated CSP, indicating that the encapsulation provided enhanced stability. The prepared microcapsules microstructures showed uniform, smoother surfaces, and hidden micropores compared to their coating material microstructures. In addition, the connection between the functional groups of coating materials and CSP-phenolic compounds was demonstrated by FTIR analysis. The prepared CG-, CG/G-, and G-microcapsules can perfectly inhibit the α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities by 65, 68, 60 and 74, 78, and 70%, respectively, compared to CSP (54, and 66%). The three prepared microcapsules displayed better antibacterial with low MBC values (0.36-0.68 mg ml) compared to CSP (0.53-0.74 mg ml). The prepared CSP microcapsules can be incorporated into various food products to enhance their antioxidant, antidiabetic, and antibacterial properties.