Royal Jelly Microencapsulation with a Maltodextrin/Gum Arabic Binary Blend by Spray Drying: Process Optimization and Characterization of Microcapsules

Abstract

Royal jelly, defined as a "superfood," is a functional food and nutraceutical due to its bioactive compounds, and therefore provides health and medical benefits. However, its sensitivity to spoilage, the need for cold conditions for storage, and its undesirable taste and aroma reduce its functional and commercial value. This study aimed to perform microencapsulation of royal jelly in protective matrices by spray drying to overcome these problems. The freshness indicator of the 10-HDA content of the royal jelly used in the study was 2.44%. It was also revealed that it was suitable for microencapsulation in terms of its other properties. The air inlet temperature significantly influenced all responses, while the coating material ratio influenced the encapsulation efficiency, antioxidant activity, and particle size. Also, feed pump speed affected solubility, moisture content, and water activity. According to desirability (0.81), the optimum spray-drying conditions to obtain the encapsulated royal jelly powder were air inlet temperature (145.81 degrees C), coating material ratio (20%), and feed pump speed (9 mL/min) to obtain desired characteristics of spray-dried powder such as encapsulation efficiency (94.81%), water activity (0.204), total phenolic content (128.91 mg GAE/100 g), solubility (96.27%) and particle size (619.76 nm). Under optimized conditions, the predicted values were close to the experimental values. The physicochemical, bioactive, and morphological properties of optimized powders were acceptable.