Design and characterization of novel ecofriendly European fish eel gelatin-based electrospun microfibers applied for fish oil encapsulation

The present study is focused on developing microfibers based on the European fish eel skin gelatin (ESG) using the electrospinning process and evaluating its ability to encapsulate European fish eel oil (EO). Based on the scanning electron microscopy images, electrospinning of 15 % (w/v) gelatin solution in ethanol/water 40 % (v/v) was efficient to produce eco-friendly microfibers. Regarding electrospinning parameters, the increase of the voltage from 10 to 17 kV and the flow rate of feed solution from 0.04 to 0.2 mL/h improved the electrospinnability of ESG solution (15 %, w/v). Furthermore, ESG-based microfibers, loaded with EO, were prepared. The effects of the EO/ESG ratios (1/2 and 1:4, w/w) and two emulsification methods, homogenization (H) and homogenization followed by ultrasonication (HS) treatment, on the electrospun microfibers formation were investigated. The success of EO encapsulation was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy analysis. The data also revealed that the highest microencapsulation efficiency encapsulation (89.79 %) was noted with EO-loaded microfibers prepared at EO/ESG ratio of 1:4 (w/w) by combining the two emulsification processes (HS). These results suggested that EO-loaded microfibers may be promising to be used as active encapsulating materials in food and nutraceutical fields.
This study was funded by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Tunisia. Authors would also like to thank the Central Support Service for Experimental Research (SCSIE) of the University of Valencia for the electronic microscopy service.