Interaction of α‐lactalbumin with dihydromyricetin and its application in nano‐emulsion

Summary The non‐covalent interaction between α‐lactalbumin (α‐La) and dihydromyricetin (DMY) was systematically revealed based on spectrofluorimetry and molecular docking method, and the potential application of their complex as an emulsifier in nano‐emulsion was evaluated. The results showed that DMY and α‐La could form a non‐covalent complex, which led to the static fluorescence quenching of α‐La, and their complexation was driven by hydrogen bonding and van der Waals force, causing the changes in the microenvironment around the tryptophan and tyrosine residues of α‐La, which was consistent with molecular docking analysis. The increase of the proportion of DMY in the complex could gradually improve the ability of the complex to reduce the oil/water interfacial tension and its ABTS radical scavenging ability. The stability and β‐carotene protective effect of nano‐emulsion developed by the complex were superior to those of nano‐emulsion stabilised by α‐La, which were positively correlated with the DMY concentration in the complex.