Ethanol-assisted core-shell microparticles for enzyme stabilization with precise size control

In vegetarian diets, phytate is known to disrupt the adsorption of minerals. Fortifying foods with phytase, a therapeutic enzyme known to mitigate phytate, might increase the uptake of important nutrients. Phytase is susceptible to environmental stress such as heat and acidic conditions encountered during food processing. Therefore, we developed and optimized a core-shell microparticle composed of a phytase-chitosan core and a shell consisting of cross-linked alginate-{kappa}-carrageenan. Ethanol was used to precipitate the microparticles, and the ethanol concentration was optimized along with the chitosan and phytase ratio and the alginate-carrageenan concentration, to form stable core-shel