Microencapsulation of Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja Extracts: A Promising Technique to Protect Phenolic Compounds and Antioxidant Capacities.

Xiao Chen,Yaoyao Peng,Siew Young Quek,Pipat Tangjaidee,Jiqian Xiang,Senghak Chhun

doi:10.3390/foods10122910

Xiao Chen, Yaoyao Peng + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10122910

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Abstract

This study aimed to protect phenolic compounds of Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja (C. paliurus) using a microencapsulation technique. Ethanol and aqueous extracts were prepared from C. paliurus leaves and microencapsulated via microfluidic-jet spray drying using three types of wall material: (1) maltodextrin (MD; 10–13, DE) alone; (2) MD:gum acacia (GA) of 1:1 ratio; (3) MD:GA of 1:3 ratio. The powders’ physicochemical properties, microstructure, and phenolic profiles were investigated, emphasizing the retentions of the total and individual phenolic compounds and their antioxidant capacities (AOC) after spray drying. Results showed that all powders had good physical properties, including high solubilities (88.81 to 99.12%), low moisture contents (4.09 to 6.64%) and low water activities (0.11 to 0.19). The extract type used for encapsulation was significantly (p < 0.05) influenced the powder color, and more importantly the retention of total phenolic compounds (TPC) and AOC. Overall, the ethanol extract powders showed higher TPC and AOC values (50.93–63.94 mg gallic acid equivalents/g and 444.63–513.49 µM TE/g, respectively), while powders derived from the aqueous extract exhibited superior solubility, attractive color, and good retention of individual phenolic compounds after spray drying. The high-quality powders obtained in the current study will bring opportunities for use in functional food products with potential health benefits.

Highlights

Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja (C. paliurus), named “sweet tea tree”, is an edible and medicinal plant native to southern China, predominantly Jiangsu, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Guangxi, Fujian, and Anhui provinces [1]
The use of MD as wall material without gum acacia (GA) decreased moisture residue in the final product, which was evident for the C. paliurus powders derived from the ethanol extract (p < 0.05)
Since GA has high number of hydrophilic pockets associated with water-binding effect, more considerable water residue could be retained in the GA-encapsulated powders [20]

Summary

Introduction

Cyclocarya paliurus (Batal.) Iljinskaja (C. paliurus), named “sweet tea tree”, is an edible and medicinal plant native to southern China, predominantly Jiangsu, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Guangxi, Fujian, and Anhui provinces [1]. C. paliurus leaves were approved by the Food and Drug Administration as the first Chinese health tea in 1999 [2] This is because the extract of C. paliurus exhibits numerous health benefits, ranging from antihyperlipidemic and antihyperglycemic [3] to antioxidant [3,4] and antimicrobial activities [5,6]. Many other therapeutic effects were observed for C. paliurus, for example, immunomodulation, antihypertensive activity, and improvement of mental efficiency [1,7,8] These bioactivities are associated with the presence of abundant phenolic compounds in leaves, such as myricetin-3-O-β-D-glucuronide, kaempferol, quercetin, caffeic acid, quercetin-3-O-β-Dglucuronide, and quercetin-3-O-α-D-glucuronide [5,9]. For example polysaccharides and triterpenoids, show antidiabetic, anticancer, antiinflammatory, and hepatoprotective properties [10,11,12,13]

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