Dextrose equivalent (DE) is a term used to indicate the degree of hydrolysis of
starch into dextrose or glucose. It is the percentage of the total starch that have been converted to reducing sugars or the amount of reducing sugars present in a solution. Degrees brix is the sugar content of an aqueous solution. It measures the mass percentage of sucrose or solid sugar content dissolved in the solution by wet basis. The properties of maltodextrins depend on its DE value. Maltodextrins are less hygroscopic and lower the DE, lesser the tendency to absorb moisture. When the temperature is decreased before spray drying, the maltodextrins tend to retrograde to the amylose structure after the acid or enzyme hydrolysis. Acidic hydrolysis of starch leads to excessive free glucose which retrogrades to form a hazy solution. The retrogradation process of amyloses forms a strong network by realigns amyloses which affect the tendency to absorb water and solubility in water. The lower the DE value of maltodextrins, the lower its solubility in water. Because of that, the total soluble solid or Degree Brix of lower DE maltodextrins will be lower. Due to lesser dextrose unit solute in the maltodextrins liquid, it tends to appear hazy in decreased temperature
2. Encapsulation are protection of certain molecules using a dedicated envelope
such as microcapsules. For encapsulation using maltodextrin, the microcapsules are made of maltodextrins. Microcapsules stability highly depended of maltodextrins DE. High DE maltodextrin has excellent oxidation stability when stored under certain conditions. Therefore, using DE 18 maltodextrin is more suitable for this flavor encapsulation.