Microencapsulación del aceite de sacha inchi (Plukenetia volubilis L.) en combinación con el aceite esencial de eucalipto (Eucalyptus globulus L.), limón (Citrus limonum.) y albahaca (Ocimum basilicum L.) mediante secado por aspersión

Abstract

Degradation of polyunsaturated fatty acids is a common problem in vegetable oils, usually caused by exposure to different environmental conditions; natural antioxidants such as essential oils and industrial methods such as microencapsulation are commonly used to ensure the reduction of these degenerative processes and prolong their shelf life. The objective of this research is to microencapsulate sacha inchi oil in combination with the essential oils of lemon eucalyptus and basil by spray drying, using a mixture of maltodextrin, arabic gum and sacha inchi in a 1:1:1 ratio together with the essential oils in concentrations of 0.5, 0.4 and 0.5 percent respectively, with an inlet temperature of 150 degrees Celsius. Applying FTIR-ATR (Attenuated Total Reflectance) spectrophotometry, the efficiency of microcapsulation was evidenced. Fluidity and compressibility were evaluated by means of the Hausner and Carr indices, each mixture showed relatively poor indices compared to its limit, greater than 38 for Carr and greater than 1.6 for Hausner. The antioxidant capacity was evaluated by the DPPH test with dilutions of 1 over 200, 250 and 300 for each mixture of microencapsulates, diluting 0.1 g of each sample in 20, 25 and 30 ml of distilled water, respectively. It was concluded that the oil mixture of sacha inchi oils together with lemon is superior in comparison to the three previously mentioned, presenting Carr and Hausner indexes of 42.23 and 1.42 respectively and an antioxidant capacity of 326.74 micromol per liter of the Trolox compound.