Kinetic degradation and storage stability of β-carotene encapsulated by spray drying using almond gum and gum arabic as wall materials

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of almond gum, as a novel polymer, to encapsulate β-carotene by spray drying, in comparison with gum arabic. Encapsulation efficiency (EE) was around 66% and 70% using almond gum and gum arabic, respectively, and the reconstituted emulsions had relatively higher particle sizes than the fresh emulsions. A 60-day storage period at 25°C was carried out to investigate the effect of relative humidity (RH) on the kinetic degradation and on the decrease of the color of β-carotene powders. Results showed that β-carotene and color degradations were found to fit well with a first-order kinetic model. Degradation rates increased as RH increased, until a value at which the samples become sticky and collapsed (80% RH) when the degradation rate decreased. These results could prove that collapse phenomena were responsible for the decrease of the degradation rate by decreasing the diffusion of oxygen throughout the wall materials.