MICROENCAPSULATION OF VASICINE ALKALOIDS THROUGH SPRAY DRYING TECHNIQUE

The micronutrients such as alkaloids, vitamins, and flavanoids do not remain in the food for a significant amount of time and may react with the other food components. Microencapsulation is a science that improves the retention time of the nutrients in the food and allows controlled release during food consumption. The current study was to optimize the process conditions and to evaluate the recovery of vasicine alkaloids of microencapsulated AV leaf extract by spray drying with gum acacia and maltodextrin. The effects of the wall material combination (20 - 100%), inlet air temperature (80 -160 °C), and feed flow rate (0.18- 0.30 L.h–1) on the moisture content, bulk density, encapsulation efficiency, mass recovery and redispersion time were evaluated. The scanning electron microscope image of the encapsulated powder shows that the compounds are intruded inside the wall materials. Moisture content and encapsulation efficiency were significantly affected and the redispersion time was positively influenced by the wall material concentration. In addition, the vasicine alkaloid concentration was evaluated using High Performance Liquid Chromatography technique. The results indicated that the gum acacia with wall material ratio (1:1), low inlet air temperature (80°C), and moderate feed flow rate (0.18 L.h–1) are the best spray drying conditions for encapsulating the Adhatoda leaf extract with maximum retention of vasicine alkaloids (73.18%). From the results, it can be concluded that the gum acacia is a suitable wall material for maximum retention of vasicine alkaloids.