Retention of albumin in Indonesian shortfin eel meat (Anguilla bicolor) by freeze-drying encapsulation using maltodextrin and gum Arabic as coating materials

Abstract

Indonesian shortfin eel (Anguilla bicolor) or locally known as sidat eel is one of Indonesia’s important export commodity owing to its nutritional value such as albumin. In this study, encapsulation of freeze-dried sidat eel meat (EM) by biopolymers such as maltodextrin (MD) and and gum Arabic (GA) was examined to find the most effective method to retain its albumin content. Emulsion of biopolymers with a constant weight ratio percentage of 8.00% (w/w, coating material/sidat eel meat) and four different proportions of MD and GA were prepared using a homogenizer, followed by freeze-drying. The 4 different proportions were named T1 (EM 92% + GA 5.33% + MD 2.67%), T2 (EM 92% + GA 2.91% + MD 5.09%), T3 (EM 92% + GA 2.00% + MD 6.00%) and T4 (EM 92% + GA 1.52% + MD 6.46%), respectively. Powders were characterized for its physico-chemical characteristics including colour measurements, moisture content, water solubility, and retention of albumin content. It was observed that T4 consisting of EM with addition of GA (1.52%) and MD (6.46%) as coating materials retained the highest amount of albumin. The encapsulation efficiency were positively influenced by moisture content, solubility and colour measurement differences. To conclude, a mixture of gum Arabic and maltodextrin as coating materials was efficient to retain albumin in EM freeze-drying encapsulation. This necessary information may be valuable to researchers working on food supplements or functional food development.