Encapsulation of volatiles by homogenized partially-cross linked alginates

Abstract

Cross-linked calcium alginate gels are too viscous to be efficaciously incorporated into spray dried formulations. Thus, viscosity reduction is essential to ensure the processability of calcium alginate gels to be sprayed. Viscosity reduction by high pressure homogenization can open new formulation possibilities. Presently, testing of microcapsule integrity is also limited because either single particle tests neglect collective particle behaviours in bulk or bulk testing methods are often associated with single compressions which may not fully characterize individual particle strengths. The aim of this study was sub-divided into three objectives. First objective was to evaluate the impact of high pressure homogenization on gel viscosity. Second objective was to explore the use of the homogenized gels with modified starch for microencapsulation by spray drying. The final objective was to develop a stamping system as microcapsule strength tester that can assess microcapsules in bulk and evaluate the impact of multiple compressions. Collectively, this study would lead towards developing a pressure-activated patch of microcapsules with encapsulated volatiles and the method to assess the patch efficacy. The alginate gels largely experienced an exponential decay in viscosity when homogenized. Furthermore, the homogenized gels were successfully incorporated in spray drying formulations for microencapsulation. The custom-designed microcapsule strength tester was successfully used and shown to possess the required sensitivity to discern batches of microcapsules containing volatiles to have different release profiles. Addition of homogenized gels strengthened the microcapsules only at high wall to core ratios with low mass-load alginate gels. High mass-load gels weaken the microcapsules, exhibiting a higher release at low stamping pressures and wrinkling on the microcapsules surface.