Electrospraying of phytosterols and their controlled release characteristics under in vitro digestive conditions

Abstract

Phytosterols reduce cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein concentrations in humans. The use of phytosterols is restricted due to their high melting temperature, low water solubility, and chalky taste. In addition, due to its structure, it is easily oxidized and its absorption and bioavailability by the human body decrease. For these reasons, the phytosterol mixture was encapsulated by electrospraying. The carrier materials and their concentrations were optimized in mixture design as responses of the phytosterol release, minimum in the model stomach and maximum in the model intestinal solutions. As a result of the optimization, the most successful carrier material composition; was 7.19 g whey protein isolate/100 mL distilled water, 9.03 g inulin/100 mL distilled water, and 3.78 g resistant starch/100 mL distilled water. The phytosterol capsules produced in the electrospraying process at the optimized conditions were released 115.19 mg/kg in the stomach and 312.49 mg/kg in the intestinal conditions.