15 - Self-Assembled Systems Based on Surfactants and Polymers as Stabilizers for Citral in Beverages

Abstract

Citral, a vital natural flavoring agent, is a natural additive used in beverages, foods, and cosmetics. Its application domain is, however, limited due to its chemical instability in acidic environments. Inhibition of citral degradation has been a long-standing industrial issue and challenging task for decades. The conventional ways to retard citral degradation like decreasing temperature, neutralizing pH, and removing oxygen have one or other limitation. The use of antioxidants to prevent citral degradation is also limited due to their noncommercial availability, high cost, and extensive extraction process. Some antioxidants add undesirable taste and color to the food products. Instead self-assemblies of surfactants and polymers provide promising method to enhance the aqueous stability of citral at low pH by compartmentalization due to its isolation from protons and free radicals. Our recently devised P123-chitosan-based hydrogel formulations provide a significant stability to citral under harsh acidic conditions of pH 1. In this chapter we highlight prospects of self-assembly designs to enhance citral stability under acidic environments commonly employed in various food stuffs like beverages, etc.