Rapid separation and quantification of self-assembled nanoparticles from a liquid food system by capillary zone electrophoresis

Abstract

Food processing generates a large amount of self-assembled colloidal nanoparticles (NPs), which have defined structures and directly interact with macrophages. Their promising potential as a new source of functional NPs and a key to elucidate food-body interactions prompt the importance of the method development. This study attempts to apply capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) in studying self-assembled nanoparticles in a real liquid food system of freshwater clam (Corbicula fluminea) soup, a popular delicacy in East Asia with proven hepatoprotective effects. The soup sample was satisfactorily separated into one nanoparticle fraction and multiple molecular fractions within five minutes by the single and rapid CZE analysis, which was of high repeatability (peak area RSD < 4%, migration time RSD < 1%) and accurate quantification with a linear area-number relationship in the range of (7.5-110) × 10¹¹ particles/mL (R² > 0.99). Therefore, CZE analysis can be an efficient tool for the investigation of self-assembled nanoparticles in real liquid food systems.

Keywords: Capillary zone electrophoresis; Freshwater clam (Corbicula fluminea) soup; Nanoparticles; Quantification; Separation.