Nanoencapsulation of linseed oil with chia mucilage as structuring material: Characterization, stability and enrichment of orange juice

Abstract

Linseed oil was nanoencapsulated with chia seed mucilage (CSM) as structuring material. Linseed oil nanoparticles (LO-NP) were evaluated regarding particle size distribution, zeta potential, pH, viscosity, encapsulation efficiency, loading capacity, morphology, FT-IR and thermal properties. Furthermore, the nanoparticles were spray-dried, and oxidative stability was evaluated during 28 days under storage at accelerated conditions (40 °C). The bioaccessibility of spray dried nanoparticles (SP LO-NP) was also evaluated after in vitro digestion. Thereafter, SP LO-NP were utilized in the enrichment of orange juice, and physicochemical and sensory evaluation of pure orange juice and orange juice with SP LO-NP were evaluated. Nanoparticles in suspension presented a mean diameter of 356 ± 2.83 nm, zeta potential of –22.75 ± 3.89 mV and encapsulation efficiency of 52%. No significant differences regarding consumer acceptance were observed between pure orange juice and orange juice with SP LO-NP. The results suggest that CSM can be used as structuring material to nanoencapsulate hydrophobic compounds, allowing its solubility in foods with high water content. Furthermore, the SP LO-NP provided a good bioaccessibility to linseed oil after in vitro digestion, which represents an advantage to incorporate the nanoparticles in food.