Optimization of technological parameters for preparation of lycopene microcapsules.

Abstract

Lycopene belongs to the carotenoid family with high degree of unsaturation and all-trans form. Lycopene is easy to isomerize and auto oxide by heat, light, oxygen and different food matrices. With an increasing understanding of the health benefit of lycopene, to enhance stability and bioavailability of lycopene, ultrasonic emulsification was used to prepare lycopene microcapsules in this article. The results optimized by response surface methodology (RSM) for microcapsules consisted of four major steps: (1) 0.54g glycerin monostearate was fully dissolved in 5mL ethyl acetate and then added 0.02g lycopene to form an organic phase, 100.7mL distilled water which dissolved 0.61g synperonic pe(R)/F68 as the aqueous phase; (2) the organic phase was pulled into the aqueous phase under stirring at 60°C water bath for 5min; (3) the mixture was then ultrasonic homogenized at 380W for 20min to form a homogenous emulsion; (4) the resulting emulsion was rotary evaporated at 50°C water bath for 10min under a pressure of 20MPa. Encapsulation efficiency (EE) of lycopene microcapsules under the optimized conditions approached to 64.4%.