The research introduces a novel method for creating drug-loaded hydrogel beads that target anti-aging, anti-oxidative, and anti-inflammatory effects, addressing the interconnected processes underlying various pathological conditions. The study focuses on the development of hydrogel beads containing anti-aging compounds, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory drugs to effectively mitigate various processes. The synthesis, characterization and in vitro evaluations, and potential applications of these multifunctional hydrogel beads are discussed. A polymeric alginate-orange peel extract (1:1) hydrogel was synthesized for encapsulating fish oil. Beads prepared with variable fish oil concentrations (0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 ml) were characterized, showing no significant decrease in size i.e., 0.5 mm and a reduction in pore size from 23 to 12 µm. Encapsulation efficiency reached up to 98% within 2 min, with controlled release achieved upto 45 to 120 min with increasing oil concentration, indicating potential for sustained delivery. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed successful encapsulation by revealing peak shifting, interaction between constituents. In vitro degradation studies showed the hydrogel\'s biodegradability improved from 30 to 120 min, alongside anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidative, anti-collagenase and anti-elastase activities, cell proliferation rate enhanced after entrapping fish oil. In conclusion, the synthesized hydrogel beads are a promising drug delivery vehicle because they provide stable and effective oil encapsulation with controlled release for notable anti-aging and regenerative potential. Targeted delivery for inflammatory and oxidative stress-related illnesses is one set of potential uses. Further research may optimize this system for broader applications in drug delivery and tissue engineering.

A new guar gum hydrogel beads were fabricated by dropping method from an aqueous solution of guar gum (GG) using ammonium persulphate and polyethylene glycol as initiator and crosslinker respectively, for the adsorption of chlorpyrifos (CP) from water. The semi-crystalline nature of the synthesized beads was confirmed by FESEM analysis. The TGA studies implied that the beads were thermally stable up to 600 °C. The maximum swelling ratio of 1400 gg-1 was attained at pH 9.2 and 80 min. The evidence of a strong absorption band was found in FTIR spectrum at 584 cm-1 due to -P=S of the adsorbed pesticide CP. The maximum adsorption of CP was found to be 220.97 mgg-1. The adsorption followed pseudo second-order kinetics and Langmuir adsorption isotherm with regression coefficients 0.9998 and 0.9938 which followed the chemisorption process. It is due to the hydrolysis of CP at pH 9.2 to yield 3,5,6-trichloropyridinol which in turn reacts with the carboxylic group present in GG giving -N-C=O linkage. A -ΔG indicates that the process is spontaneous and involves chemisorption which is thermodynamically and kinetically favorable and a -ΔH value (-10.37 kJ/mol) suggests that the adsorption is exothermic.

Red Monascus Pigment (RMP), a natural pigment, has attracted significant attention due to its suitability for food use and potential health benefits. However, preserving its stability and exploring value-added development opportunities remain crucial challenges. This study outlined the utilization of RMP, by successfully preparing hydrogel beads encapsulating RMP crude extract (RMPCE) through Ca2+-mediated chitosan (CS)/sodium alginate (SA) encapsulation (CO-RMPHB). A systematic investigation into the fabrication and stability parameters, including preparation conditions, temperature, monochromatic light and storage time, was undertaken. Through optimization (SA: 2.50 wt%; CaCl2: 6.00 wt%; CS: 0.50 wt%), maximum encapsulation efficiency of 73.54 ± 2.16 % was achieved. The maximum swelling degree of blank hydrogel beads (BHB) in simulated gastric solution (pH = 1.2, 1.50 ± 0.97 %) was significantly lower than in simulated intestinal solution (pH = 7.0, 28.05 ± 1.43 %), confirming their sensitivity to pH changes. Additionally, the CO-RMPHB (66.08 %, 1000 μL) exhibited superior DPPH radical scavenging capability compared to individual RMPCE or BHB. Furthermore, analysis of the release kinetics based on zero-order, first-order, Higuchi, and Ritger-Peppas models revealed that RMPCE release from CO-RMPHB under in vitro digestion models followed non-Fickian diffusion. This discovery effectively addresses the challenges of the stability and controlled release of RMP, expanding its applications in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

Perilla frutescens L. essential oil (PLEO) has antibacterial and antioxidant properties, which can effectively maintain the quality of fruits and extend their shelf life. In this study, sodium alginate and chitosan were used as wall materials, and PLEO microcapsule powder was used as the core materials to prepare PLEO hydrogel beads. The best results were obtained by using 2%w/v sodium alginate and 1.5%w/v chitosan as wall materials, with a core-to-wall ratio of 2:1 and homogenized for 15 min producing PLEO hydrogel beads with encapsulation efficiency of 82.61 %. For strawberries preservation, PLEO hydrogel beads preservation group had a better effect after 5 d of storage, showing a lower decay rate (15.71 %), better maintaining the hardness of 1.75 kg/cm2, and a weight loss of 3.29 %. Furthermore, organic acids and total phenols were retained more in this group, the number of microorganisms was significantly reduced, and sensory qualities were improved, especially taste and color. This study provides important insights into the application of natural preservatives in the food industry and promotes sustainable practices in food preservation.

A novel core-shell structured alginate-based hydrogel bead modified by co-gelatinizing with starch and protocatechuic acid (PA), was designed to modulate physical properties of beads, release behavior and antioxidant stability of encapsulated bioactives. Core was fabricated by ionotropic gelation, and its formulation (ratio of sodium alginate/starch) was determined by particle size/starch distribution, texture and bioactive encapsulation capacity of core. Then, coating core with shell-forming solution co-gelatinized with different doses of PA, and subsequently cross-linked with Ca2+ to obtain core-shell structured beads. Surface microstructure, mechanical characteristics, and swelling ratio of beads were affected by concentrations of PA. Besides, core-shell structure containing PA could enhance delivery and sustained release of encapsulated phenolic bioactives during in vitro digestion, and improve their antioxidant potential stability. Furthermore, interaction between PA and polysaccharide components was elucidated by FTIR and TGA. The present information was beneficial for the advancement of functional food materials and bioactive delivery systems.

In this study, vitamins C and E were simultaneously encapsulated in water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) emulsion-filled sodium alginate (SA) hydrogel beads, as well as the effects of SA concentrations (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0%) on the structures and lipolysis the of hydrogel beads were investigated. With increasing SA concentration, the beads showed larger sizes, denser structures and better textures. The droplets tightly penetrated the gel network at high SA concentrations. Digestion behavior revealed the disintegrated intramolecular structure at low SA concentrations. The beads with 0.5% SA were fragmented, losing the initial shape during digestion in the intestinal fluid. Additionally, lipid phases were released as W/O/W and O/W emulsion droplets after digestion. However, the high SA concentration-containing beads exhibited a well-preserved morphological structure after digestion, and the release profiles of lipid phase were mainly O/W emulsion droplets. Furthermore, vitamins C and E encapsulated in the beads exhibited high bioaccessibility (vitamin C: 90.20% and vitamin E: 95.19%).

Cellulose-based adsorbents have been extensively developed in heavy metal capture and wastewater treatment. However, most of the reported powder adsorbents suffer from the difficulties in recycling due to their small sizes and limitations in detecting the targets for the lack of sensitive sensor moieties in the structure. Accordingly, carbon dots (CDs) were proposed to be encapsulated in cellulosic hydrogel beads to realize the simultaneous detection and adsorption of Hg (II) in water due to their excellent fluorescence sensing performance. Besides, the molding of cellulose was beneficial to its recycling and further reduced the potential environmental risk generated by secondary pollution caused by adsorbent decomposition. In addition, the detection limit of the hydrogel beads towards Hg (II) reached as low as 8.8 × 10-8 M, which was below the mercury effluent standard declared by WHO, exhibiting excellent practicability in Hg (II) detection and water treatment. The maximum adsorption capacity of CB-50 % for Hg (II) was 290.70 mg/g. Moreover, the adsorbent materials also had preeminent stability that the hydrogel beads could maintain sensitive and selective sensing performance towards Hg (II) after 2 months of storage. Additionally, only 3.3% of the CDs leaked out after 2 weeks of immersion in water, ensuring the accuracy of Hg (II) evaluation. Notably, the adsorbent retained over 80% of its original adsorption capacity after five consecutive regeneration cycles, underscoring its robustness and potential for sustainable environmental applications.

Antibody drugs play a vital role in diagnostics and therapy. However, producing antibodies from mammalian cells is challenging owing to cellular heterogeneity, which can be addressed by applying droplet-based microfluidic platforms for high-throughput screening (HTS). Here, we designed an integrated system based on disulfide-bonded redox-responsive hydrogel beads (redox-HBs), which were prepared through enzymatic hydrogelation, to compartmentalize, screen, select, retrieve, and recover selected Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells secreting high levels of antibodies. Moreover, redox-HBs were functionalized with protein G as an antibody-binding module to capture antibodies secreted from encapsulated cells. As proof-of-concept, cells co-producing immunoglobulin G (IgG) as the antibody and green fluorescent protein (GFP) as the reporter molecule, denoted as CHO(IgG/GFP), were encapsulated into functionalized redox-HBs. Additionally, antibody-secreting cells were labeled with protein L-conjugated horseradish peroxidase using a tyramide amplification system, enabling fluorescence staining of the antibody captured inside the beads. Redox-HBs were then applied to fluorescence-activated droplet sorting, and selected redox-HBs were degraded by reducing the disulfide bonds to recover the target cells. The results indicated the potential of the developed HTS platform for selecting a single cell viable for biopharmaceutical production.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are prevalent environmental contaminants that are harmful to ecological and human health. Bioremediation is a promising technique for remediating PAHs in the environment, however bioremediation often results in the accumulation of toxic PAH metabolites. The objectives of this research were to demonstrate the cometabolic treatment of a mixture of PAHs by a pure bacterial culture, Rhodococcus rhodochrous ATCC 21198, and investigate PAH metabolites and toxicity. Additionally, the surfactant Tween ® 80 and cell immobilization techniques were used to enhance bioremediation. Total PAH removal ranged from 70-95% for fluorene, 44-89% for phenanthrene, 86-97% for anthracene, and 6.5-78% for pyrene. Maximum removal was achieved with immobilized cells in the presence of Tween ® 80. Investigation of PAH metabolites produced by 21198 revealed a complex mixture of hydroxylated compounds, quinones, and ring-fission products. Toxicity appeared to increase after bioremediation, manifesting as mortality and developmental effects in embryonic zebrafish. 21198\'s ability to rapidly transform PAHs of a variety of molecular structures and sizes suggests that 21198 can be a valuable microorganism for catalyzing PAH remediation. However, implementing further treatment processes to address toxic PAH metabolites should be pursued to help lower post-remediation toxicity in future studies.

In this study, hydrogel beads [SPI/HP-Fe (II)] were prepared by cross-linking soybean isolate protein (SPI) and hawthorn pectin (HP) with ferrous ions as a backbone, and the effects of ultrasound and Fe2+ concentration on the mechanical properties and the degree of cross-linking of internal molecules were investigated. The results of textural properties and water-holding capacity showed that moderate ultrasonic power and Fe2+ concentration significantly improved the stability and water-holding capacity of the hydrogel beads and enhanced the intermolecular interactions in the system. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed that the hydrogel beads with 60% ultrasonic power and 8% Fe2+ concentration had a denser network. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic absorption experiments demonstrated that ferrous ions were successfully loaded into the hydrogel beads with an encapsulation efficiency of 82.5%. In addition, in vitro, simulated digestion experiments were performed to understand how the encapsulated Fe2+ is released from the hydrogel beads, absorbed, and utilized in the gastrointestinal environment. The success of the experiments demonstrated that the hydrogel beads were able to withstand harsh environments, ensuring the bioactivity of Fe2+ and improving its bioavailability. In conclusion, a novel and efficient ferrous ion delivery system was developed using SPI and HP, demonstrating the potential application of SPI/HP-Fe (II) hydrogel beads as an iron supplement to overcome the inefficiency of intake of conventional iron supplements.