Encapsulation of Momordica Charantia Linn. (bitter gourd) juice by spray dying technique

Abstract

Momordica Charantia Linn. (Bitter gourd) is a cucurbit, mainly known for its medicinal properties commonly used for its anti-diabetic properties, due to presence of saponins, flavonoids, phenolic and its antioxidant activity. Despite of so many medicinal properties and health benefits, bitter gourd is still treated as an underutilized fruit due to its strong bitter taste. Bitter taste of the bitter gourd can be masked by the means of encapsulation of bitter taste. Hence in the present study, the encapsulation of bitter gourd extract was done by spray drying method to mask the bitter taste. Spray drying process parameters i.e. inlet air temperature, in-feed concentration and maltodextrin to gum acacia ratio in encapsulation material was optimized to get maximum masking of bitter taste of bitter gourd. A solution of 5% (w/v) turmeric powder treatment for 2 h was found to be best pretreatment method for de-bittering of bitter gourd. D-optimal, response surface design optimization of spray drying conditions provided the optimum results at inlet air temperature of 138 °C, in feed concentration of 26% and maltodextrin to gum acacia ratio of 54/46 with process yield of 65.99%, TPC retention of 83.68%, FRAP retention of 86.40%, TSC retention of 86.41%, microencapsulation efficiency of 81.92% and sensory overall acceptability of 7.97.