Abstract
Fortification of food and beverages with folic acid is carried out frequently as a remedy to folic acid deficiency which causes serious health issues. This study was carried out to investigate the effect of incorporation of folic acid encapsulated alginate submicron particles in pineapple ready-to-serve (RTS) beverages. The encapsulation efficiency and loading capacity of the particles were 91.54 ± 0.45% and 1.02 ± 0.01%, respectively. The photostability and thermal stability studies of folic acid revealed that encapsulation poses a protective effect on folic acid and that dark and refrigerated conditions contribute to higher stability of folic acid. In this study, sensory evaluation of the RTS beverages was carried out through both ranking tests and acceptance tests using a five-point hedonic scale. The sensory panel showed the highest preference to pineapple RTS with incorporated encapsulated folic acid at a quantity of its recommended daily intake (400 µg/200 mL) before heat treatment. Shelf-life evaluations were carried out through measuring physicochemical properties, and pH, titratable acidity, and total soluble solids showed negligible or acceptable changes over two months. Folic acid degradation occurred due to heat treatment, but encapsulation in alginate submicron particles provided heat stability to folic acid. Thus, microencapsulated folic acid may be a successful carrier of folic acid which can be incorporated in beverages such as fortified pineapple RTS.
Highlights
Folic acid is an essential vitamin involved in fundamental functions of nucleic acid biosynthesis and protein metabolism of living organisms [1]
Particle Size and Zeta Potential. e diameter of the particles indicated by the peak of the frequency distribution (Dmode) was 426.5 nm revealing that the folic acid encapsulated particles were in the submicron range (ISO and STAM)
D50, and Dmoy of the particles were in close proximity, showing nearly a symmetrical size distribution. e coefficient of variation of the particles was 18.3%, while the polydispersity index was 46.9%, suggesting a relatively homogeneous size distribution. e zeta potential of the folic acid encapsulated particles was −29.0 mV with a zeta deviation of 5.3 mV indicating that the particles are stable in aqueous media. is property is much useful in the event of incorporating these particles in an aqueous food medium [23]
Summary
Folic acid (vitamin B9) is an essential vitamin involved in fundamental functions of nucleic acid biosynthesis and protein metabolism of living organisms [1] Deficiency of this essential vitamin leads to numerous deleterious health effects including neural tube defects. Numerous exciting research studies, carried out with the aim of food fortification and/or nutraceutical development, have reported on encapsulated folic acid that exhibited ameliorated properties such as enhanced stability, pH-dependent release, and improved bioaccessibility or bioavailability. Considering the gastroprotective effect, according to no release at pH 2 and enhanced release at higher pH, favourable for better absorption of folic acid and higher bioaccessibility, the matrix composition of 100% alginate was further evaluated in this study for folic acid fortification of a fruit juice-based beverage. The effect of thermal processing on the degradation of folic acid was studied using a simulated system
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