Physicochemical properties and storage stability of lutein microcapsules prepared with maltodextrins and sucrose by spray drying.

The purpose of this study was to determine the physicochemical properties of lutein microcapsules. Nine types of lutein microcapsules were prepared in order to determine their encapsulation efficiency and yield. Results show that lutein microcapsules with maltodextrin M040 and sucrose at the weight ratio of 3:1 (designated as M040:1) had the highest encapsulation efficiency (90.1%) among the lutein microcapsules, as well as a higher encapsulation yield (90.4%). The onset glass transition temperatures (Tgi ) and the surface dents of the lutein microcapsules decreased as the dextrose equivalent value of maltodextrin and the weight ratio of sucrose increased. Enthalpy relaxation experiments were conducted for the lutein microcapsules M040:1 at (Tgi - 5) , (Tgi - 10), and (Tgi - 15) °C, and the obtained data were fitted to the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts model. Results show that the mean relaxation time (τ) (316 h) of M040:1 lutein microcapsules aged at (Tgi - 15) °C was greater than the τ (161 h) at (Tgi - 10) °C and τ (60.5 h) at (Tgi - 5) °C. Effects of temperature and oxygen transmission rates for package film on the storage stability of M040:1 lutein microcapsules were also investigated. Findings show that rates of lutein degradation and color change increased by an order of magnitude as storage temperature (4 to 97 °C) and oxygen transmission rate of the package film (0.018 to 62.8 cc/m(2) day) increased. These results suggest that lutein is highly unstable and susceptible to thermal and oxidative degradations. However, microencapsulation with appropriate wall materials of higher relaxation time and high oxygen barrier packaging can increase the storage life.