Microencapsulation of Capsanthin by Soybean Protein Isolate-Chitosan Coacervation and Microcapsule Stability Evaluation

Although capsanthin possesses excellent coloring performance and healthcare functions, its application in the food industry is limited due to its susceptibility to humidity, heat, and light. The purpose of this research was to microencapsulate capsanthin by soybean protein isolate (SPI)-chitosan coacervation and evaluate whether the microencapsulation improved the stability of capsanthin against the adverse conditions mentioned above. The results indicated that the optimum conditions for capsanthin microencapsulation were emulsification speed 10,000 rpm, emulsification temperature 45 degrees C, wall concentration 15 g/L and core to wall ratio 1:2 (w/w). Under these conditions, the droplets in the emulsion were even in size distribution without agglomeration and the microencapsulation efficiency and microencapsulation yield reached 90.46% and 86.69%, respectively. Microencapsulation increased the stability of capsanthin against low/medium moisture, heat, and especially light, but was less effective in protecting capsanthin microcapsules in high moisture. (C) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.