玉米醇溶蛋白的化学改性及应用研究进展

Research Progress on Chemical Modification and Application of Zein

玉米醇溶蛋白(Zein)是玉米籽粒中的主要储存蛋白,来源广泛且可再生,其分子中存在大量的疏水性氨基酸,结构随微环境的变化而改变。Zein具有独特的溶解性和良好的成膜性、生物相容性、自组装性能等,但也存在着一定的缺陷,包括:(1)成膜力学性能较差;(2)纳/微米粒子亲水性不佳;(3)纳/微米粒子稳定性较差等。这些缺陷限制了其开发和应用。因此,近10年来众多研究者对Zein进行了改性研究。目前,Zein的改性方法主要包括物理改性和化学改性,其中,化学改性是通过改变Zein分子组成或结构等而改善其相关性能,但化学改性需要加入外源物质,同时对改性操作的要求较高。通过对Zein进行一系列改性而改善其存在的缺陷并赋予其一定的功能,可使Zein逐步应用到食品、医药和化工等行业,其中:(1)在化工领域Zein主要应用于可降解薄膜、纤维制品和胶黏剂等;(2)在食品领域Zein主要作为食品成分和食品包装等;(3)在医药领域Zein主要用作玉米活性肽、药物运载体和生物支架等。本文简要讨论了化学改性在Zein的功能化研究方面的优势和不足,综述了Zein的不同化学反应机理的研究进展,总结归纳了Zein在食品、医药和化工等行业或领域的应用情况,最后结合自身研究基础,对今后Zein的功能化及应用前景进行了展望。

As the main protein in corn,zein is widely available and renewable.Zein owns a large number of hydrophobic amino acids and its structure changes with the change of environment.Zein has unique solubility,good film-forming property,good biocompatibility,and good self-assembly property,but it also has certain defects,including:(Ⅰ)the mechanical properties of zein films are poor;(Ⅱ)the hydrophilicity of zein nano/micro particles is not good;(Ⅲ)the stability of zein nano/micro particles need to be improved,etc.These defects have limited the development and application of zein,therefore many researchers have carried out the studies of modification on zein in the past decades.Now,the modification methods of zein include physical and chemical modifications.Chemistry modification changes the molecular composition or structure of zein to improve its properties,but it requires the addition of exogenous substances and the accurate operations.Zein has been modified in series to improve its existing defects and provide certain functions,making zein gradually applied in many industries,including:(Ⅰ)it can be used in degradable films,fibers and adhesives in chemical field;(Ⅱ)it can be used as food ingredients and food packaging in food field;(Ⅲ)it can also be used as corn active peptides,drug carriers and scaffolds in medical field.This article briefly discusses the advantages and disadvantages of chemical modification in the functionalization research of zein.What’s more,this article summarizes the chemical modification research progress of zein,and its application in food,pharmaceutical and chemical industries.Finally,based on our previous research,the future functionalization and application prospects of zein are prospected.