The microencapsulation of tuna oil in gelatin-sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) using complex coacervation was optimised for the stabilisation of omega-3 oils, for use as a functional food ingredient. Firstly, oil stability was optimised by comparing the accelerated stability of tuna oil in the presence of various commercial antioxidants, using a Rancimat™. Then zeta-potential (mV), turbidity and...

Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLN) of fatty acids (FAs) were prepared with a new, solvent-free technique based on FAs precipitation from their sodium salt micelles in the presence of polymeric non-ionic surfactants: this technique was called 'coacervation'. Myristic, palmitic, stearic, arachidic and behenic acid were employed as lipid matrixes. Spherical shaped nanoparticles with mean diameters ra...

Chitosan (CS) nanoparticles have been developed as a versatile drug delivery system to transport drugs, genes, proteins, and peptides into target sites. Demands on fluorescent nanoparticles have increased recently due to various applications in medical and stem-cell-based researches. In this study, fluorescent CS nanoparticles were prepared by a mild method, namely, complex coacervation. Entrap...

Complex coacervation is an electrostatically-driven phase separation phenomenon that is utilized in a wide range of everyday applications and is of great interest for the creation of self-assembled materials. Here, we utilized turbidity to characterize the effect of salt type on coacervate formation using two vinyl polyelectrolytes, poly(acrylic acid sodium salt) (pAA) and poly(allylamine hydro...

Coacervate micro-droplets produced by liquid-liquid phase separation are increasingly used to emulate the dynamical organization of membraneless organelles found in living cells. Designing synthetic coacervates able be formed and disassembled with improved spatiotemporal control is still challenging. In this chapter, we describe design photoswitchable coacervate droplets short double stranded D...

Cells organize their interior through membrane-bound organelles and membraneless condensates that are formed by liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS). The complex process of coacervation is involved in LLPS challenging to study living cells. Hence, studying cell-mimicking synthetic containers can yield valuable insights. Here, we review recent progress with respect (particularly coacervation) a...

Liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) between tyrosine- and arginine-rich peptides are of biological importance. To understand the interactions proteins in condensed close analogy to complex coacervation, we run multiple umbrella calculations oligomers containing tyrosine (pY) arginine (pR). We find pR-pY complexation be energetically driven. Metadynamics simulations on monomers suggest that th...

The molecular characteristics of the food-grade polysaccharide gum acacia may vary depending on source, which could in turn significantly affect its behaviour as thickener, emulsifier and a wall material microencapsulation. In this study, five gums (GA) from different sources were screened with respect to weight distribution, interfacial tension, microencapsulation salmon oil by complex coacerv...