Complexation of ellagic acid with α-lactalbumin and its antioxidant property

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 372; p. 131307
• Main Authors: Diao, Mengxue, Liang, Yuan, Zhao, Jingqi, Zhang, Jie, Zhang, Tiehua
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 15.03.2022
• Subjects: anti-inflammatory activity; antioxidant activity; Antioxidant property; chromatography; computers; Ellagic acid; food chemistry; molecular dynamics; Multi-spectroscopic methods; solubility; α-Lactalbumin; α-Lactalbumin; Multi-spectroscopic methods; Ellagic acid; Antioxidant property
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2021.131307

[Display omitted] •Ellagic acid bound to α-LA in spectral and chromatographic analysis.•Ellagic acid exhibited stronger binding with α-LA in aromatic cluster Ⅱ than Ⅰ.•α-LA could protect ellagic acid to improve its antioxidant activity. Ellagic acid possesses numerous bioactivities such as antioxidant activity and anti-inflammatory effect. In this work, the binding interaction between ellagic acid and α-lactalbumin was investigated by multi-spectroscopy and the results suggested that ellagic acid could change the conformation of α-lactalbumin. Chromatographic analysis proved the interaction of α-lactalbumin with ellagic acid taken place in less than 30 min and this interaction was stable. Computer simulations showed that both aromatic clusters Ⅰ and Ⅱ of α-lactalbumin were active sites for ellagic acid. Interestingly, both the results of molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations suggested that ellagic acid tended to bind to aromatic cluster Ⅱ rather than aromatic cluster Ⅰ. Moreover, α-lactalbumin could enhance the antioxidant property of ellagic acid, indicating that the solubility of ellagic acid might be improved by combining α-lactalbumin. Overall, this work suggested that α-lactalbumin exhibited binding affinity for ellagic acid and enhanced its antioxidant property.