A novel approach to the formulation of an encapsulated bioactive powder from palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer L) fruit pulp for nutraceutical applications

Abstract

This study aims to produce spray-dried encapsulated powder from Palmyrah fruit pulp that contains health-promoting bioactive nutrients and desirable product attributes, which can be incorporated into ice cream as a nutraceutical ingredient. The feed formulations, containing the aqueous fraction of Palmyrah fruit pulp (FP), skim milk (SM), and a minimal amount of maltodextrin (MD) & Gum Arabic (GA), were spray dried at an inlet temperature of 170 °C. Since four blends with three levels of variation, Taguchi's approach to the l-9 (34) array was used to design the experiments. The formulation (T7) of FP: SM: MD: GA range 45:50:10:2.5 gave the best results regarding physicochemical, functional, and sensory attributes. This matrix was the best formulation for preserving yielding powders with desirable density for packaging (i.e., 46.47% & 0.45 g/cm3), reconstitution properties in water(70.4%) and a good source of antioxidants and stability over storage time (Vita C-8.05 mg/100 g, total phenolic content-78.30 mg GAE/100 g, Radical scavenging activity of 27.08–73.61%). The test of FTIR confirmed effective encapsulation and interactions amongst the final coating layer of SM, MD &GA. The sensory evaluation revealed that 5% Powder contained ice cream formulation had the highest overall acceptability score.