The use of gum arabic and modified starch in the microencapsulation of a food flavoring agent

Solvent extracted oleoresins exhibit a flavor profile, close to the freshly ground spice in a wide spectrum of foods. In spite of their many advantages over ground spices, their sensitivity to light, heat and oxygen is a disadvantage. One approach to overcome this disadvantage is by means of microencapsulation. The present work reports on microencapsulation of cardamom oleoresin by spray drying using gum arabic, maltodextrin, and a commercially available modified starch as wall materials. The microcapsules were evaluated for the content and stability of volatiles, non-volatiles, entrapped 1,8-cineole and entrapped alpha-terpinyl acetate for 6 weeks. Gum arabic offered greater protection to the oleoresin than maltodextrin and modified starch, as seen from the t(1/2), time required for a constituent to reduce to 50% of its initial value. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.