Investigations into the stabilization of a volatile aroma compound using a combined emulsification and spray drying process

Abstract

The aromatic compound 3-methylbutyraldehyde (3-mba) was stabilized using a combined emulsification (W1/O/W2) and spray drying process. The process suitability and the encapsulation properties of eight materials were evaluated. Whey protein concentrate (WPC), sodium octenyl succinate modified starch (modified starch 1), maltodextrin, and gum Arabic (GA) were found to be the best process-adapted microencapsulation materials. These materials were chosen for further experiments in which the influence of the solids content on flavor intensity and flavor retention during storage were determined. The amount of encapsulated 3-mba increased with increasing solids content from 40–50% using WPC, modified starch 1, and maltodextrin. Microcapsules with GA reached the maximum value of encapsulated 3-mba at 45% solids. After 11 days of storage, flavor retention decreased in the following order: GA > modified starch 1 > WPC ∼ maltodextrin. Finally, the spray drying process was optimized by design of experiments (DoE). The optimized parameters were a feed temperature of 40 °C, a dry mass in W2 of 60%, and an amount of W1/O of 40% using modified starch 1.