Valorization of red cabbage pomace for stabilization of anthocyanins in Rhododendron arboreum

Abstract

The current study was envisioned to valorize red cabbage pomace, an industrial waste produced during color and nutrition processing for extraction of pectin and its utilization to improve the stability of anthocyanins from commercially important Rhododendron arboreum flowers. To formulate microcapsules of anthocyanins by spray drying process; four distinct wall materials i.e., maltodextrin, gum arabic, pectin, xanthan gum and, their blends were used. The characteristic physicochemical properties of microencapsulated anthocyanins were evaluated for moisture content, glass transition temperature, water activity, particle size and morphology. The stability of microcapsules was evaluated for wall materials, heat, storage at different temperatures (25, 4 and −20 °C) and color parameters (L* a* b* E*) for 90 days of analysis. The findings revealed that combination of maltodextrin/pectin (2/1) exhibited the highest encapsulation efficiency and anthocyanins retention. These results are important findings to provide promising evidence on the possibility of utilizing red cabbage waste for useful biopolymers like pectin as a functional ingredient in the food industry.