Microencapsulation of beta-carotene in solid lipid particles stabilized with whey protein isolate

Abstract

The microencapsulation is employed with several purposes in the food industry, as prevention of the oxidation and loss of volatile and sensitive compounds, release control of odours, protection against nutritional losses, preservation of color and taste, in order to increase the shelf-life of a product. The development of new encapsulation systems is always necessary in order to incorporate real functionality to the food formulations. The microencapsulation technologies must allow: (I) the incorporation of mechanisms of controlled release; (II) the increasing of bioacessibility and bioavailability of the functional ingredients through the control of food microstructure. The present projects aims to encapsulate beta-carotene in solid lipid particles of palm stearin, stabilized with whey protein isolate, with the following specific objectives: (I) determination of the operational conditions (surfactant concentration, agitation conditions, pH) for the production of stable lipid microparticles; (II) evaluation of the shelf-life of the dispersions produced by the analyses of beta-carotene concentration, lipid oxidation, size distribution and zeta potential over the storage period. (AU)