Research on encapsulation systems for the industrial development of functional food products

PONCE CEBALLOS, PEGGY; MAZZOBRE, MARÍA FLORENCIA; DOS SANTOS, CRISTINA; ELIZALDE, BEATRIZ; LAZZARONI, SANDRA; PAVÓN, YANINA; ROZYCKI, SERGIO; BUERA, MARÍA DEL PILAR

Milan

Conferencia; 2nd INTERNATIONAL ISEKI-Food Conference (ISEKI_Food 2011).; 2011

Encapsulation provides the necessary protection of active compounds, facilitating the formulation of fortified and functional foods. On the other side, encapsulation systems may be used to reduce or remove undesirable compounds, such as cholesterol or to provide controlled release (tastes, flavours). Considering the several forms of encapsulation and the wide variation in bioactive compounds properties, the encapsulation method and conditions to obtain the desired functional characteristic in the final product should be carefully selected. The objective of this work was to overview some encapsulation systems for the delivery of bioactive compounds in the production of functional foods or for the removal of undesirable food components. The work is based on a project involving research groups of University of Buenos Aires (UBA) and University of Litoral (UNL), which focuses on the understanding of the principles involved in bioactive compounds encapsulation, the efficiency of encapsulation systems, the stability of the encapsulated compounds at different conditions, and the extraction of cholesterol in dairy products performed in a pilot plant at UNL. A cooperation agreement between local SME and UNL is also related to this project with the aim to develop various cholesterol-free dairy products (probiotic yogurt, cheese spreads, ice cream, light cream and dulce de leche). Some results on encapsulation based on wall formation (matrices of maltodextrins -pure or in combination with other polymers), and on molecular inclusion  in cyclodextrins were analyzed as encapsulation systems for bioactive compounds. The removal of cholesterol with cyclodextrins, to obtain healthy products “free-choles” was also discussed. Integrating all these results is useful to offer technological advantages including stable, standardizable compositions, doping and handling of dry powders, reduced storage costs and economically favourable technological processes.