  Protein-inorganic hybrid nanoflowers (HNFs) possess unique properties in
promoting surface reaction and have attracted wide-spread attention as a newly
developed nanomaterial. However, the availability of protein sources has up to
now been mostly limited to enzymes, which narrows the application of HNFs
especially in food industry. Here we show that for many types of food protein,
enzymatic hydrolysis can improve its ability to form versatile HNFs, or even
induce HNF formation where the protein source did not show its formation a
priori. The treatment of enzymatic hydrolysis increases the flexibility of such
proteins and induces nucleation sites of HNFs in the early formation stage by
decomposing those proteins into polypeptides. In particular, the HNF prepared
with soy protein hydrolysate further shows a high loading capacity of
water-soluble Monascus red, reaching up to 554.1 mg per gram of HNF. Its
stabilization towards lipophilic curcumin is similarly impressive with the
loading capacity reaching 21.9 mg per gram of HNF. This HNF could also
effectively protect these two sensitive natural pigments in harsh environments.
This research significantly broadens the available protein source for HNF
fabrication and demonstrates the potential of HNFs as novel protein-based
delivery systems - especially for sensitive natural pigments - which could
serve the fields of food, cosmetic and medicine.
