Morphological characterization of pequi extract microencapsulated through spray drying

Abstract

This objective of this work was to produce spray-drying microencapsulated carotenoid extracts from pequi pulp using maltodextrin and gum arabic and to evaluate the influence of drying temperature on the physicochemical properties of microencapsulated extracts. Emulsions were spray-dried into powders at 150°C, 170°C, and 190°C. Morphological and physicochemical properties of the obtained product were investigated. The temperature of 190°C was that which best conserved the carotenoids and had the best observed solubility. The microspheres produced by spray drying presented an average size of 20 µm. Neither morphological nor color differences were observed for particles dried at different temperature