Microencapsulation of linseed oil in multilayer emulsions stabilized by carob protein hydrolysates and biopolymers

Abstract

Regular consumption of oils rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids ensures several benefits to human health. However, these oils are very susceptible to lipid oxidation, which limits their application in food formulation. In this context, microencapsulation can represent an important tool to improve the stability of these oils. However, proper choice of wall materials is required to ensure a high resistance to storage conditions and/or processing, but also ensure good digestibility of microencapsulated oils. Microparticles obtained from multilayer emulsions can present greater resistance to degradation under different physicochemical conditions, mainly due to the additional physical protection that multiple layers can offer. Furthermore, the use of protein hydrolysates in the formulations of these microparticles can provide greater oxidative stability to oils, due to the greater antioxidant capacity that these can present in relation to non-hydrolyzed protein. The use of vegetable proteins for this purpose enables the formation of products free of animal constituents, meeting the growing demand for vegetarian and vegan diets. Thus, this work aims to develop linseed oil microparticles obtained by spray drying from multilayer emulsions stabilized by carob protein hydrolysates and anionic polysaccharides (pectin and sodium alginate). The microparticles will be evaluated for their physicochemical characteristics, stability, in vitro digestibility, as well as their application in the fortification of cookies. This project is linked to the thematic project entitled "Architecture of colloidal release systems: what is the role of structure in digestibility?" (Case No. 2019/27354-3), under the responsibility of Rosiane Lopes da Cunha, PhD. (AU)