While a good mucoadhesive biopolymer must adhere to a mucus membrane, it must also have a good unloading ability. Here, we demonstrate that the biopolymer pullulan is partially digested by human salivary α-amylase, thus acting as a controlled release system, in which the enzyme triggers an increased release of flavour. Our oral processing simulations have confirmed an increase in the bioavailability of aroma and salt compounds as a function of oral pullulan degradation, although the release kinetics suggest a rather slow process. One of the greatest challenges in flavour science is to retain and rapidly unload the bioactive aroma and taste compounds in the oral cavity before they are ingested. By developing a cationic pullulan analogue we have, in theory, addressed the “loss through ingestion” issue by facilitating the adhesion of the modified polymer to the oral mucus, to retain more of the flavour in the oral cavity. Dimethylaminoethyl pullulan (DMAE-pullulan) was synthesised for the first time, and shown to bind submaxillary mucin, while still retaining its susceptibility to α-amylase hydrolysis. Although DMAE-pullulan is not currently food grade, we suggest that the synthesis of a sustainable food grade alternative would be a next generation mucoadhesive targeted for the oral cavity.

好的粘膜粘附生物聚合物必须粘附在粘膜上，同时还必须具有良好的卸载能力。在这里，我们证明生物聚合物支链淀粉被人唾液中的α-淀粉酶部分消化，从而充当了控释系统，其中该酶触发了风味释放的增加。我们的口腔加工模拟已经证实，随着口服支链淀粉降解的影响，香气和盐类化合物的生物利用度增加，尽管释放动力学表明过程缓慢。香料科学中的最大挑战之一是在摄取之前，要在口腔中保留并迅速清除生物活性香气和味道化合物。从理论上讲，通过开发阳离子支链淀粉类似物，通过促进改性聚合物与口腔粘液的粘附，以在口腔中保留更多的风味，解决了“因摄入造成的损失”的问题。首次合成了二甲基氨基乙基支链淀粉（DMAE-pullulan），并显示出与上颌下黏蛋白结合，同时仍保留了其对α-淀粉酶水解的敏感性。尽管DMAE-普鲁兰酶目前不是食品级产品，但我们建议可持续食品级替代品的合成将是针对口腔的下一代粘膜粘附剂。