Characterization and stability evaluation of Ca2+ cross-linked soybean protein isolate/chitosan/sodium alginate ternary complex coacervate phase

To improve the stability of the soybean protein isolate/chitosan/sodium alginate ternary complex coacervate phase against environmental pH and ionic strength, the complex ternary phase cross-linked by Ca2+ was characterized and evaluated. The viscoelastic properties, thermal properties, microstructure, and texture profile were characterized using rheology, differentia scanning calorimetry as well as thermmogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy as well as transmission electron microscopy, and texture profile analysis, respectively. Compared with the uncross-linked ternary complex coacervate, the complex in situ cross-linked with 1.0 % Ca2+ for 1 h still retains its typical solid characteristics, and has a more compact network structure and better stability. Our research results also showed that prolonging the cross-linking time (from 3 h to 5 h) and increasing the concentration of the cross-linking agent (from 1.5 % to 2.0 %) did not further improve the rheological, thermodynamic and textural properties of the complex coacervate. The ternary complex coacervate phase cross-linked in situ under 1.5 % concentration of Ca2+ for 3 h showed significantly improved stability at low pH 1.5–3.0, which indicats that the ternary complex coacervate phase cross-linked in situ by Ca2+ can be used as a potential delivery platform for the effective delivery of biomolecules under physiological conditions.