Republic of the Philippines

MARIKINA POLYTECHNIC COLLEGE

#2 Mayor Chanyungco St., Sta. Elena. Marikina City 1800
GRADUATE SCHOOL PROGRAM

MASTER OF ARTS IN TEACHING MAJOR IN FOOD TECHNOLOGY

FOOD SCIENCE
DISCUSSANT: Christian Dave C. Claridad

ENCAPSULATION OF FOOD INGREDIENTS

(Agents and Techniques)

Encapsulation

 One material or mixture of materials is coated with or entrapped

within another material or system.
 Coated material is called active or core material.
 Coating material is called shell, wall material, carrier or encapsulant.

Benefits of encapsulation:

 Protection of unstable, sensitive materials from their environments prior to use.

 Provision of better process ability and to protect flavour-food interaction during processing and storage.
 Enhancement of shelf life.
 Helps in controlled, sustained timed release.

Carrier materials

 choice of wall materials depends upon:

 product objectives and requirements
 nature of the core material
 the process of encapsulation
 whether the coating material is approved by FDA or European Food Safety Authority
 easy to handle
 allow a complete elimination
 give the maximum protection of the active ingredient

Carbohydrates:

 Diverse in nature
 Low cost
 low viscosities at high solids contents and good solubility
 starch
 maltodextrin
 cyclodextrin
 gums

Proteins:

 Have excellent functional properties such as solubility, viscosity, emulsification, and film-forming properties.
 During emulsion formation, the protein molecules become rapidly adsorbed at the newly formed oil–water
interface thus protects the oil droplets against re-coalescence resulting in physical stability to the emulsion
during processing and storage.
 whey protein
 gelatin
 sodium caseinate

ENCAPSULATION TECHNOLOGIES

• Chemical : (a) coacervation

(b) molecular-inclusion

(c) co-crystallization
 • Physical / Mechanical: (a) spray-drying

(b) extrusion

(c) freeze-drying & vacuum drying

(d) spray-cooling / chilling

(e) fluidized bed coating

Chemical techniques:

Coacervation

Formation of chemical phases

Depositing the liquid polymer coating

upon the core material

Rigidizing the coating

coacervation

Simple- involves only one type of polymer. Complex- two or more types of polymers are used.

 In both the cases,core material used must be compatible with the recipient polymer .
 In complex coacervation oppositely charged polymers like gelatin(cationic) and gum(anionic) are used.
 limitations of flavour encapsulation by coacervation are:
 evaporation of volatiles
 dissolution of active compound into the processing solvent
 oxidation of product
 complex coacervates are highly unstable , so, chemical agents, such as glutaraldehyde, are necessary to stabilize
them

Molecular inclusion

 Cyclodextrins are used to complex and entrap molecules.

 Cyclodextrins are enzymatically modified starch molecules.
 The central cavity of the molecule creates a relatively hydrophobic environment, whereas its external surface
has a hydrophilic character.
 Retention of aroma compounds inside the cavity can be influenced to a greater or lesser extent by the
molecular weight and shape, steric hindrance, chemical functionality, polarity and volatility of the core
material.
 Provides protection against heat and evaporation.

Co-Crystallization

 Spontaneous crystallization of supersaturated sucrose syrup is

achieved at high temperature (above 120 °C) and low moisture.
 Aroma compounds can be added at the time of spontaneous crystallization.
 Crystal structure of sucrose incorporate the flavours either by inclusion or
by entrapment.
 Enhance flavour stability.
Mechanical techniques:
Spray drying

 Commercial process- widely used in large scale production

of encapsulated flavors & volatiles.
 Predominant encapsulation process.
 Provides high retention of aroma compounds
 Used for low heat-liable materials.

Advantages Disadvantages

 Low operating cost  Produce no uniform microcapsules

 High quality of capsules in good yield  Limitation in the choice of wall material
 Rapid solubility of the capsules  Produce very fine powder
 Small size  Not good for heat-sensitive material
 High stability capsules

Fluidized-Bed coating

 coating is applied onto powder particles.

 powder particles are suspended by an air stream.
 sprayed with an atomized, coating material.
 coating material-
a. acceptable viscosity
b. Thermal stable
c. Able to form film

Schematics of a fluidized-bed coater

a. Top spray fluidized bed coating system.

b. bottom spraying fluidized bed coating system.
c. Wurster system
d. Side or tangential spray/ rotary system

Advantage

 This technology allows specific particle size distribution

and low porosities to be designed into the product
 High drying rates.
 High thermal efficiency; lower capital and maintenance costs;
 Ease of control

Spray chilling / spray cooling

 least expensive encapsulation process.

 used for encapsulation of aroma compounds.
 Used for encapsulation of water soluble flavors
 Similar to spray drying- do not involve the evaporation of water

Advantages

 Low processing costs

 Free flowing powders
 Delayed release of encapsulated flavour compound in a wet environment

Freeze drying

 Freeze drying is practical only for encapsulating heat-sensitive flavors.

 Major disadvantages-
a. High energy cost.
b. Long drying time.
c. Costs of freeze drying are up to 50 times higher than spray drying.
Vacuum drying

 Widely used to preserve the aromatic qualities of herbs and spices.

 Applied to entrap flavours in glassy carbohydrate based matrices,
eg, maltodextrin and starches.
 Relevance for dehydrated culinary products.
 Operates above freezing point of solvent
 Faster & cheaper.

Extrusion

 Objective -was then to retain the dense structure of the hard-candy matrix while reducing the particle size to
within acceptable limits.
 Encapsulation of flavours via extrusion has been used for volatile and unstable flavours in glassy carbohydrate
matrices

Applications in Other Areas

Active material Wall Material Method Of Encapsulation

Vitamins β- cyclodextrin Coacervation

Oil Maltodextrin Fluidised bed agglomeration

Sunflower oil Starch matrices Extrusion

Micronutrients (Iron) hydrogenated oils Spray chilling/spray cooling

Carotenoids(β-Carotene) gelatin Freeze drying

Enymes and peptides Maltodextrin spray-drying + agglomeration

Probiotics (B. bifidum) Ca – alginate Freeze drying