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REVIEWS OPEN ACCESS

MICROENCAPSULATION: A REVIEW
OF APPLICATIONS IN THE FOOD AND
PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRIES
Methavee Peanparkdeea, Satoshi Iwamotoa,b, Ryo Yamauchia,b
a
Division of Science of Biological Resources, United Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Gifu University, 1-1 Yanagido, Gifu 501-1193, Japan
b
Department of Applied Life Science, Faculty of Applied Biological Sciences, Gifu University, Gifu 501-1193, Japan

ABSTRACT
Microencapsulation is a technique that has been widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. This technique can be
used to reduce the cost of production, to increase the stability of compounds, to mask undesirable tastes, and to improve the release
properties of compounds in food industries. Currently, microcapsules are utilized in beverage, bakery, meat, poultry, and dairy
products. Moreover, microencapsulation has been used to increase stability, to mask bitter taste, to improve the release properties
of drugs, and to provide specific drug delivery in pharmaceutical industries. The challenge of microencapsulation is in selection of
the appropriate conditions for producing highly effective microcapsules. Many factors affect the quality of microcapsules, including
preparation techniques, types of core material, and types of wall material. We provide an overview of the current research on the
applications of microencapsulation in food and pharmaceutical industries, the selection of suitable conditions for developing high
efficiency microcapsules, and future trends in microencapsulation.
Keywords: application, core material, food industries, microencapsulation, pharmaceutical industries, wall material

1. Introduction morphology. Based on the various properties of the core, wall

1.1 Definition of microencapsulation
The microencapsulation process is used to entrap small particles
of liquids, solids, or gases in one or two polymers. As presented
in Fig. 1, the particle component is referred as the core material ,
and polymers are called variously such as wall material , shell ,
coating , carrier , or encapsulant (Luzzi, 1970; Desai and Jin
Park, 2005). The purpose of microencapsulation is to protect the
core material from environmental factors (such as light, moisture,
temperature, and oxygen), to extend shelf-life (Shahidi and Han,
1993; Gouin, 2004 ) , and to improve the release properties of
compounds (Müller et al., 2002). Microencapsulation has been
applied in the design of new materials not only for the food industry
but also for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and textiles, where the
stability, efficiency, and bioactivity of compounds are required (Koo
et al., 2014; Dias et al., 2015).
1.2 Classification of microcapsules
The selection of the core, wall material, and microencapsulation
technique affects the properties of microcapsules, including
material, and microencapsulation technique, different types of
particles (Fig. 2) can be obtained (Gharsallaoui et al., 2007). The
morphology of microcapsules can be described as: mononuclear
(Fig. 2a), poly/multinuclear (Fig. 2b), matrix (Fig. 2c), multi-wall
(Fig. 2d), and irregular (Fig. 2e).
1.3 Microencapsulation techniques
Microencapsulation techniques are divided into three classes:
chemical, physical, and physico-chemical methods (Jyothi et al.,
2010). Chemical methods include in situ polymerization and use of
liposomes; physical methods include spray-drying and fluidized bed
coating, and physico-chemical methods include coacervation and
sol-gel encapsulation (Gibbs, 1999; Gouin, 2004). The microcapsules
produced by each method are different (Fang & Bhandari, 2010).
1.3.1 Chemical methods
In situ polymerization
The in situ formation of a hydrogel has recently been recognized
for its potential biomedical and biotechnological applications

56 Received: June 9, 2016. Revised: August 9, 2016. Accepted: October 20, 2016
Published on line: November 30, 2016. Correspondence to S.I.: isatoshi@gifu-u.ac.jp
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Fig.1. The schematic cross section of microcapsule

*Theoretically, typical diameters of microcapsules are in the range of 0.01 and 1,000 μm and the thickness of wall material is in
the range of 0.5-150 μm (Cheng et al., 2009).

Fig.2. Morphology of microcapsules

including controlled-release drug delivery, three-dimensional (3D)
cell culture, and injectable tissue engineering, since it is a simple
method (Smeds and Grinstaff, 2001; Ko et al., 2013).
Hydrogels are 3D polymeric networks with high water content
that remain insoluble in aqueous solutions because of chemical or
physical crosslinking of individual polymer chains (Lin and Metters,
2006; Ko et al., 2013). To produce hydrogels, bioactive compounds
or cells are premixed in an aqueous solution (sol) and injected to a
target site, to form a hydrogel depot through a sol-to-gel transition
mechanism. This sol-gel transition can be generated by changing
the environmental conditions including pH, temperature, light, and
ionic strength (Hou et al., 2008; Ko et al., 2013).
Liposomes
Liposomes are often used in the pharmaceutical and food
industries for entrapping an aqueous solution within a membrane
of phospholipids. Liposomes are microscopic vesicles composed
of phospholipid bilayers surrounding aqueous compartments.

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As presented in Fig. 3, the liposome encapsulates a hydrophilic
drug within an aqueous medium, the hydrophilic region, while
also entrapping the lipophilic drug within the lipid bilayer, the
hydrophobic region (Barenholz, 2003; Nii and Ishii, 2005).
Liposomal entrapment can protect bioactive materials from
environmental and chemical stresses, including the presence of
enzymes or reactive chemicals, and exposure to extreme pH,
temperature, and high ion concentrations (Foged et al., 2007).
1.3.2 Physical methods
Spray-drying
Spray-drying is a widely used technique in the food and
pharmaceutical industries (Giunchedi and Conte, 1995; Gibbs, 1999;
Jain, 2000; Bruschi et al., 2003; Reineccius, 2004), because it presents
several advantages including those of low cost, easy adaptation to
the industrial scale, and high drug-loading efficiency (Baranauskienė
et al., 2006). In the spray-drying process, core material is mixed
or homogenized in a solution of wall material, to form a stable
emulsion. This emulsion is fed into a spray dryer and formed into a
dried particle (Loksuwan, 2007) by hot air (Turchiuli et al., 2005).
Wall materials can be selected from a variety of polymers,
depending on the core material and the desired characteristics of
the final product. For the spray-drying process, the wall material
must be soluble in water at an acceptable level (Gouin, 2004)
and possess good properties of emulsification, film forming, and
drying (Reineccius, 2004).
Fluidized bed coating
Fluid bed coating is commonly used for coating solid particles
(Ronsse et al., 2007). The mechanism of formation of microcapsules
using this technique can be divided into three stages: nucleation,
Fig.3. Characteristics of liposomes
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transition, and ball growth. In the beginning of the microencapsulation
process, particles are suspended in the coating chamber. Droplets
of the polymer solution are then sprayed, increasing the probability
of particle-droplet impact and spread on the particle surface. At
the end of this process, droplets are evaporated and formed into
microcapsules (Teunou and Poncelet, 2002).
This manufacturing technique is ideal for the food industry,
because of its high versatility, relatively high batch size, and
simplicity (Depypere et al., 2009).
1.3.3 Physico-chemical methods
Coacervation
Coacervation can be divided into simple and complex
coacervation ( Wang et al., 1999 ) . This method involves the
phase separation of one or many hydrocolloids from a polymeric
solution layer around the core material that is suspended in the
same reaction media (Gouin, 2004; Desai and Jin Park, 2005).
In simple coacervation, only one coating material (typically
pectin) is used (Luzzi, 1970). The simple coacervation method is
dependent on conditions such as pH, ionic strength, temperature,
and structure of the macromolecules. For example, when the pH is
adjusted to a value near the isoelectric point (pI) of gelatin at low
ionic strength, the net charge of gelatin becomes balanced. The
molecules unfold and sediment to form microcapsules (Schmitt
et al., 1998). Complex coacervation is mostly dependent on pH
and the concentration of polymer. This process involves the
reaction between two oppositely charged polymers (protein and
polysaccharide) and is called the polymer-polymer interaction
method . Negatively charged polysaccharides (such as acacia,
pectin, alginate, and carboxy methyl cellulose ) interact with
positively charged proteins (such as gelatin, soy protein isolate;
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SPI, and whey protein isolate; WPI) via electrostatic interactions
( Saravanan and Rao, 2010 ) . The mixtures of protein and
polysaccharide form an electrostatic complex in a specific pH
range, relying on the pI of protein and pKa of polysaccharide.
At a pH below the pI of the protein and above the pKa of the
polysaccharide carboxyl group, they can effectively interact via
electrostatic interactions (Giancone et al., 2009).
Sol-gel encapsulation
The sol-gel encapsulation technique involves adsorption on
glass surfaces, entrapment in a polymer matrix, or incorporation
in porous glass powders, because entrapment is based on the
growing of siloxane polymer chains around the biomolecule
within an inorganic oxide network (Flora and Brennan, 2001;
Gupta and Chaudhury, 2007).
The advantages of the sol-gel method are low cost, simplicity,
safety, and an absence of vacuum requirement. However, this method
also has disadvantages; entrapment in a sol-gel glass may change
the chemical and biological properties of the entrapped compounds
because of reduced degrees of freedom and interactions with the
inner surface of the pores (Zink et al., 1994; Lin and Brown, 1997).
2. Application Fields of Microencapsulation
Microencapsulation technology is widely used in several
industries, especially food and pharmaceutical industries, since
it can increase solubility, enhance stability, and improve the
controlled release properties of compounds such as essential oils,
antioxidants, enzymes, drugs, etc. Therefore, this section focuses
on the applications of microencapsulation in these industries.
2.1 Applications in the food industry
The food industry utilizes functional ingredients to improve flavor,
color, and texture properties and to extend the shelf-life of products.
Moreover, ingredients that have functional health benefits, such as
antioxidants and probiotics, are of great interest (Borgogna et al., 2010).
However, most of these ingredients have low-stability and are easily
decomposed by environmental factors. Thus, the preparation of high-
stability bioactive compounds is important. Microencapsulation is one
way to address these issues. In recent years, there has been a great deal
of research on the production of high efficiency microcapsules and their
applications in the food industry.
2.1.1 Beverages
Burin et al. (2011) evaluated the stability of anthocyanin, which
was encapsulated within different carrier agents in an isotonic soft
drink system. Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments obtained
from plants. These pigments are generally used as colorants in
foods and drinks, because they have high colorant power, low
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toxicity, and high water solubility (Ersus and Yurdagel, 2007).
Moreover, many studies have shown that anthocyanins have
important antioxidant and anticarcinogenic properties (Wang and
Xu, 2007; de Rosso et al., 2008). Nevertheless, anthocyanins are
unstable pigments and can be decomposed to colorless compounds
by many factors including pH, temperature, light, oxygen, and the
food matrix (Wang and Xu, 2007). Therefore, microencapsulation
has been used to increase the stability of these compounds (Giusti
and Wrolstad, 2003). In their study, the spray-drying technique
was used to encapsulate anthocyanins originated from Cabernet
Sauvignon grapes. They found that the obtained microcapsules
presented uniform particle sizes and a spherical surface. Moreover,
a combination of maltodextrin (MD) and gum Arabic (GA) resulted
in increased protection of the anthocyanin pigments.
Aditya et al. (2015) prepared microcapsules of curcumin and
catechin using water-in-oil-in-water emulsions (W/O/W). This study
aimed to prevent the degradation of both curcumin and catechin
in beverage systems. The biological activities of curcumin and
catechin increase when they are used in combination (Xu et al., 2010;
Manikandan et al., 2012). In the food industry, these two compounds
are used to develop functional food and drink products, because they
are effective bioactive compounds that can prevent several diseases
such as cancer, obesity, infection, and cardiovascular ailments
(Stammler and Volm, 1997; Nayak et al., 2010; Aditya et al., 2013).
However, curcumin and catechin are unstable compounds. They are
easily degraded in the presence of oxygen, alkaline pH, and high
temperature (Green et al., 2007). In this study, it was found that the
stability of encapsulated curcumin and catechin, either individually or
in combination, increased, in a model beverage system.
Kausadikar et al. (2015) encapsulated lemon oil with maltodextrin
by the spray-drying technique. Lemon oil has a sharp, fresh smell.
Therefore, it is mainly used as a flavoring agent in food and
beverages. However, the high amounts of unsaturated and oxygen-
functionalized compounds in this oil affect oxidation during storage.
Thus, the microencapsulation technique has been used to address this
problem. The stability of samples was examined in terms of sensory
characteristics in forms of instant ice tea premix at various storage
temperatures (4, 28 and 45 ºC). It was found that encapsulated lemon
oil showed a good odour/taste profile and the appearance did not
change over the storage time at all storage conditions. These results
indicated that encapsulated lemon oil can be stored for 6 months.
2.1.2 Baked goods
Rocha et al. ( 2012 ) produced microcapsules of lycopene
by spray-drying, using a modified starch as the encapsulating
agent. The functionality of microcapsules was determined by
applying them to cake. Lycopene is a carotenoid present in several
fruits and vegetables. It is widely used as a red food colorant.
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Nevertheless, lycopene is easily decomposed by oxidation during
the storage process, because of its high number of conjugated
double bonds. In this study, microencapsulation was expected to
increase the stability of lycopene. The results showed that cake
made with microcapsules was more pigmented than standard cake.
O Brien et al. (2003) encapsulated vegetable shortening to
increase oxidative stability and convert fat into a stable powder for
use in short dough biscuit production. Currently, most ingredients
used in commercial biscuit production are in dry form. However,
the fat ingredient must be added in the form of liquid (oil) or block
(fat), which requires an additional manual step. The objective of
this research was to develop microcapsules of high-fat powders
and evaluate their effect on biscuit quality compared to the quality
of a control biscuit produced with hydrogenated vegetable fat.
It was found that microencapsulated vegetable fat produced at
a low homogenization pressure, with whey protein concentrate
(WPC) containing 5% protein as the encapsulating agent, could
be used for producing biscuits with acceptable characteristics.
Therefore, microencapsulated high-fat powders could be used as a
replacement for fat/oil in commercial biscuit production.
2.1.3 Meat and poultry
Muthukumarasamy and Holley (2006) were interested in the use
of probiotics in dry fermented sausages, for increasing nutritional
value. However, many studies have reported that probiotic organisms
have poor survival in fermented foods (Shah et al., 1995; Kailasapathy
and Rybka, 1997; Lücke, 2000; Shah and Ravula, 2000). To improve
the viability of bacterial cells, microencapsulation technique was
used to retain them within a protective polymer membrane or matrix
(Audet et al., 1993). The results showed that microencapsulated
Lactobacillus reuteri could be used in dry fermented foods, because it
can prevent the loss of cell viability after drying without altering the
sensory quality of products.
Jiménez-Martín et al. (2016) used microcapsules of omega-3
fatty acids from fish oil for enriching frozen chicken nuggets and
investigated the effect of time of frozen storage on the oxidative
stability and sensory properties of this product in comparison to that
with bulk fish oil addition. It was found that time of frozen storage
had no effect on the sensory quality of chicken nuggets enriched with
omega-3 fatty acids. Microencapsulation of omega-3 fatty acids from
fish oil could be used for the enrichment of pre-fried frozen meat
products with fish oil, improving the oxidative shelf-life and preserving
the sensory quality characteristics of the enriched products.
Comunian et al. (2014) evaluated the effect of encapsulated
ascorbic acid on physicochemical and sensory stability of chicken
frankfurters. Ascorbic acid is a natural antioxidant derived from fruits
and vegetables. However, it is very unstable. It is easily decomposed
by various factors including, heat, light, high oxygen concentration,
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and high water activity. Ascorbic acid is commonly used in
frankfurters to replace sodium erythorbate. Hence, this study aimed
to encapsulate ascorbic acid in frankfurters, because this technique
allows for the incorporation of an effective antioxidant with vitamin
functionality and improves stability of the product. The results
showed that it was possible to produce frankfurters with acceptable
sensory characteristics, when using ascorbic acid as an antioxidant.
2.1.4 Dairy products
Anjani et al. (2007) developed microcapsules of Flavourzyme
with various wall materials, for use in cheese production. Low-
moisture cheese varieties, such as cheddar, require longer
ripening to develop the desired flavor, texture, taste, and aroma
characteristics. Since traditional cheese maturation occurs at a very
slow rate (McSweeney, 2004), exogenous enzymes are added to
increase the maturation rate. However, direct addition of enzymes
results in loss of enzyme, poor enzyme distribution, reduced yield,
and poor cheese quality. Microcapsules added to milk during cheese
manufacturing allowed for good distribution of Flavourzyme.
Champagne et al. (2015) evaluated the effects of microencapsulation
by the spray-drying technique on the stability of probiotic bacteria in
ice cream. Recently, several functional ice creams have been produced
by adding probiotic bacteria. However, processing and storage
conditions affect the viability of probiotic bacteria (Champagne et al.,
2005). Therefore, microencapsulation has been used to enhance the
survival of probiotic bacteria (Sheu et al., 1993; Ahmadi et al., 2014).
The results showed that the encapsulated probiotic bacteria had higher
survival rates compared to the non-encapsulated culture.
2.2 Application in pharmaceutical industries
The microencapsulation technique has been widely used in the
pharmaceutical industry for controlled release of drugs, enhancing
stability, and flavor-masking (Mendanha et al., 2009).
Arimoto et al. ( 2004 ) explored the use of microcapsule
formulations for the colon-specific delivery of a water-soluble
peptide drug. In general, peptides are heat-sensitive and have
low permeability through polymeric membranes. Thus, this
study aimed to preserve the stability of heat-sensitive drugs and
the desired permeability allowing for a delayed-release profile
of macromolecular drugs. The results showed that poly ( EA/
MMA/HEMA) with a molar ratio of 95:85:40 exhibited good
film-formability at 40° C. These conditions could be proposed
as an appropriate way to prepare delayed-release microcapsules
containing water-soluble drugs for colon-specific delivery.
Chen et al. (2014) produced doxorubicin and heparin co-loaded
microcapsules using chitosan for synergistic cancer therapy. Researchers
have tried to eliminate the adverse effects of the toxic chemotherapeutic
agent doxorubicin (DOX) by using microencapsulation to protect
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normal tissue. Moreover, heparin (HEP) is negatively charged, making
it difficult for it to undergo cellular uptake. Therefore, chitosan (CHI),
which is a positively charged polymer, was used to form an HEP/CHI
multilayered capsule. CHI can protect HEP from heparanase, which
facilitates the intracellular delivery of HEP. The anticancer drug DOX
is also encapsulated for the combination therapy. In this study, the
researchers found that DOX-loaded (HEP/CHI) microcapsules had
high stability in heparanase solution. Moreover, the microcapsules of
DOX and HEP showed a synergistic effect against human pulmonary
carcinoma (A549) cells.
Ja czyk et al. ( 2010 ) used an electronic tongue for the
detection of bitter taste-masking microencapsulation of active
pharmaceutical ingredients ( APIs ) , namely ibuprofen and
roxithromycin, popular non-steroidal anti-inflammatory and
antibiotic drugs, respectively. It was found that chemical images
obtained by the measurements of pure API solutions and those by
measurements of API encapsulated with taste-masking additives
were significantly different. Moreover, the character of change
obtained from microencapsulation was the same in both APIs.
2.3 Different viewpoints between food and pharmaceutical
applications
Currently, microcapsules play important roles in the food
and pharmaceutical industries. Table 1 shows the similarities and
differences in the purposes of microencapsulation in the food and
pharmaceutical industries. In food industry, microencapsulation
is used to reduce cost, increase stability of compounds, mask
undesirable tastes, and improve the release properties of
compounds. In pharmaceutical industry, microencapsulation is
used to increase stability, mask bitter taste, and improve the release
properties of drugs, while providing for specific drug delivery. The
main objective in the food industry is to produce high efficiency
microcapsules with a low cost of production. However, the aim of
pharmaceutical industries is to obtain high efficiency microcapsules
that can deliver drugs to specific organs, regardless of the cost.
3. Challenges of Microencapsulation: Important Factors in
the Microencapsulation process
The challenges associated with microencapsulation are to
determine the appropriate microencapsulation technique, to select
Table 1: Purposes for the use of Microencapsulation in Food and Pharmaceutical industries
Industries
Cost Increasing stability Taste masking Improving release-properties
reduction
Food  
Pharmaceutical  
　 = necessary factor
  = unnecessary factor
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the encapsulating materials (core and wall), and to optimize the
conditions for producing high-efficiency microcapsules.
3.1 The selection of microencapsulation techniques
Saikia et al. (2015) compared two microencapsulation techniques,
spray- and freeze- drying, for encapsulating phenolic compounds
from Averrhoa carambola pomace. Freeze- drying is a suitable
technique for microencapsulating heat-sensitive compounds;
however, this method is expensive (Lopez-Quiroga et al., 2012).
Spray-drying is a commonly used technique in the pharmaceutical
and food industries, for the encapsulation of polyphenols (Sollohub
and Cal, 2010). It was seen that freeze-dried microcapsules had
a higher encapsulation efficiency and greater release of phenolic
compounds in gastric fluid than spray-dried microcapsules.
Alvim et al. ( 2016 ) used spray-drying and spray-chilling
techniques to produce microcapsules of ascorbic acid for use in
biscuits. It was found that microcapsules prepared using these
two methods had different mean diameters, owing to the structure
formation in each method; however, they had similar encapsulation
efficiencies. Microcapsules can prevent the formation of dark spots
on biscuits, which may occur during the baking process. Moreover,
microcapsules of ascorbic acid, produced by spray-drying and
spray-chilling had a high stability during the baking process. These
results indicate that both microencapsulation methods may be used
for protecting active substances in baked products.
3.2 Selection of core material
Saravanan and Rao (2010) encapsulated various types of drugs,
including metronidazole hydrochloride (MH), diclofenac sodium
(DS), and indomethacin (IM), using pectin-gelatin and alginate-
gelatin complex coacervation. MH is a water-soluble drug and is
soluble at an acidic pH. DS is soluble at an alkaline pH and insoluble
at an acidic pH. IM is insoluble in water. This study aimed to find
the appropriate conditions for encapsulating drugs that have different
water solubility. Water-soluble MH yielded microcapsules with
poor encapsulation efficiency. IM produced microcapsules with an
irregular shape. DS resulted in physical changes to the microcapsules,
because of crystallization of free acid during the coacervation process.
These results indicate that IM is an ideal core for encapsulation via
complex coacervation, in terms of stability and prolonged release.
Factors
Specific
drug delivery
  
  
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Recently, we have studied the effect of core material on the
properties of microcapsules of bioactive compounds from mulberry
leaf, produced using the protein-polysaccharide interaction method
(Peanparkdee et al., 2016). In this study, 60% ethanolic mulberry leaf
extract (60E) and 95% ethanolic mulberry leaf extract (95E) were
compared, to determine the more suitable core material. It was found
that microcapsules prepared using 60E as a core material had higher
phase separation and encapsulation efficiency, in addition to enhanced
chemical properties, compared to microcapsules prepared using 95E.
These results indicated that 60E, which has high hydrophilicity, could
be used as an effective core material for producing microcapsules
using the protein-polysaccharide interaction method.
3.3 Selection of wall material
de Barros Fernandes et al. (2014) evaluated the effects of replacing
GA with modified starch, MD, and inulin, on the characteristics of
rosemary essential oil microencapsulated by spray-drying. GA is
considered an excellent wall material for entrapping essential oils;
however, it is a costly polymer. Hence, polymers that can be used to
replace GA have been assessed. A mixture of modified starch and MD
had good properties, including high retention of volatile compounds.
Moreover, the combination of modified starch and inulin was also
shown to be a feasible substitute for GA in foods due to the prebiotic
properties of inulin which can provide health benefits.
Carneiro et al. (2013) studied the encapsulation efficiency and
oxidative stability of flaxseed oil microencapsulated by spray-
drying, using different combinations of wall materials, including
maltodextrin (MD), whey protein concentrate (WPC), gum Arabic
(GA), and modified starches. The aim of this research was to evaluate
the potential of MD combined with GA, WPC, and modified starch as
alternative materials, for microencapsulation of flaxseed oil by spray-
drying. From the result, the combination of MD and modified starch
showed the best encapsulation efficiency. However, the mixture of
MD and WPC performed better in protecting the active material
against oxidation during storage. According to the results, a mixture
of MD and WPC or MD and modified starch could be suggested as a
suitable wall material for microencapsulation of flaxseed oil.
Table 2: Future Trends in Applications of Microcapsules in Various Industries
Food Industry Pharmaceutical Industry
Functional foods Specific drug delivery
- Probiotics - Oral drug delivery
- Antioxidants - Transdermal drug delivery
- Vitamins - Stomach-specific drug delivery
- Dietary fibers - Colon-specific drug delivery
-Food preservatives - Small intestine-specific drug delivery
-Food colorants -Bitter taste-masking
-Food flavors
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4. Future Trends
4.1 Food industries
The expansion in functional foods seems to be a long-term
trend with important market potential. Therefore, new innovations
have been introduced in the food industry (Bigliardi and Galati,
2013; Santiago and Castro, 2016). Microencapsulation is one of
the innovations that are currently of interest. Moreover, many
researchers continue to develop novel components for use as
functional ingredients, preservatives, colorants, and flavors in
food products using microencapsulation techniques.
4.2 Pharmaceutical industries
Drug microencapsulation has tremendous potential for use in
the pharmaceutical industry, because it allows for the sustained
and controlled release of drugs for various medical applications.
However, encapsulated drugs still have limitations in organ-specific
drug delivery. Obtaining high reproducibility of microencapsulated
drugs remains a challenge (Lam and Gambari, 2014).
Furthermore, microencapsulation is used in other industries,
including the textile and cosmetic industries, as shown in Table 2.
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