Food Nano- and Microconjugated Systems: The Case of Albumin–Capsaicin

Capsaicin (CAP) is one of the most important ingredients in the food industry; nowadays, the consumption of spicy foods has increased due to the demand of products with different levels of pungency. However, the manipulation and use are limited due to its high level of pungency. Microencapsulation by nanostructuring is an option to reduce the adverse effects of CAP. In this chapter, the conjugation of albumin with CAP is discussed. The role of CAP in the formation of bovine serum albumin–capsaicin (BSA–CAP) capsules seems to be related to the particle size. Evidence of the association of CAP with BSA in the complex BSA–CAP and the stability of the particles were determined by ζ-potential evaluation as a function of pH.