Study physical and antioxidant properties of the microencapsules of Citrus aurantium extract prepared by spray drying method

In this research, the microcapsulation of polyphenolic compounds of citrus aurantium extract was designed to provide a solution by improving their stability and protecting them against oxidation, light, moisture and temperature. For this purpose, a lab scale spray-dryer was used to produce microcapsules of Citrus aurantium extract using maltodextrin(MD), gum arabic(GA) and their combination(MD+GA) as a coating material. Quizzes powder production yields, phenolic compounds content and encapsulation efficiency, antioxidant capacity, moisture content, hygroscopicity, bulk density, solubility, morphology and particle size were evaluated. The results of this study clearly showed that the encapsulation of the Citrus aurantium extract with spray dryer by using maltodextrin was effective and had higher productivity(above 90%) than two other wall materials. Also, maltodextrin capsule has a higher yields(87.4%), better antioxidant activity(60.91%), low moisture content(2.10%), low hygroscopicity(45.76%), low bulk density(0.449g/ml), high solubility(79.38%) and morphological structure were better than other capsules. Particle size was not significantly different in samples. Finally, the microcapsule of the Citrus aurantium extract dried by maltodextrin was presented as the comprehensively microcapsule.