Encapsulation of an oil containing unsaturated fatty acids
AssigneeJean Antoine Meiners
InventorsJean Antoine Meiners, Mathieu Zongo, Angela Anglada
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Abstract
The present invention provides microcapsules in which oil comprising unsaturated fatty acids is encapsulated, such as polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), the invention further relates to a process for preparing the microcapsules. The process comprises the step of adding a plasticizer to the ingredients forming an emulsion, which emulsion may be spray-dried in a subsequent step to form the microcapsules. The presence of the plasticizer and of other constituents of the emulsion and/or the microcapsules synergistically interact so as to results in encapsulated PUFAs having an increased stability and a reduced off-taste.
Claims21
A process for microencapsulating a hydrophobic material comprising PUFAs, the process comprising the steps of:
- preparing a micro emulsion comprising water, one or more polymers, said hydrophobic material, and at least one emulsifier, wherein said hydrophobic material forms droplets having an average size of 1 μm or smaller in said micro emulsion,
- adding at least one plasticizer, said plasticizer providing at least 3% of the weight of said micro-emulsion, determined with respect to the weight of the non-aqueous constituents of the micro-emulsion containing all constituents and/or immediately before spray drying;
- and,
- spray-drying said micro-emulsion.
A microcapsule comprises a matrix comprising polymers and droplets of a hydrophobic material dispersed in said matrix, said droplets having an average diameter of 1 μm or smaller, said hydrophobic material comprising PUFAs, wherein said hydrophobic material provides at least 10% per weight of dry matter of said microcapsule, characterized in that said microcapsule comprises a lipophilic plasticizer, which provides at least 3% per weight of dry matter of said microcapsule.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.