Design of novel nutritious microcapsules comprising ω-5 fatty acids and essential amino acids by assembling pomegranate seed derived macromolecules

Abstract

This study was conducted to decipher usage of pomegranate seed protein isolate (PSPI) as a coating material in microencapsulation system and produce a functional microcapsule containing ω-5 fatty acids and essential amino acids. Pomegranate seed oil (PSO) as core material was loaded in different coating materials including gum Arabic (GA), gelatin (G), and PSPI and microencapsulated by spray drying. Microcapsules exhibited low microencapsulation yield (MY) (24.07–41.04%) while microencapsulation efficiency (MEE) was 88.90, 81.36, and 87.42% for gum Arabic microcapsules (GAM), gelatin microcapsules (GM), and PSPI microcapsules (PSPIM), respectively. Wettability results showed that PSPIM displayed the highest hydrophilic property. Microcapsules with the desired morphology were GM and PSPIM. All microcapsules exhibited heterogeneous particle size distribution. The role of PSO on the crystallinity of GA, G, and PSPI was discussed by x-ray diffraction (XRD). Specific spectrums of PSO loadings in coating materials were observed successfully by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Thermal analysis results showed that deformation temperature for microcapsules was above 250 °C. GA and PSPI was more effective at limiting adverse effects of temperature on oxidation compared to G. Data prove that it has been successfully reached the hypotheses proposed for this study.