Microencapsulation of fingered citron extract with gum arabic, modified starch, whey protein, and maltodextrin using spray drying

The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of the Fingered citron extract (FCE) microcapsules powders with different formulations of the encapsulation carrier agents [gum arabic (GA), maltodextrin (MD), modified starch (MS), and whey protein (WP)], which are obtained through spray drying. Encapsulation yield, encapsulation efficiency, moisture content, hygroscopicity, water activity, density properties, Carr's index, cohesiveness, flowability, porosity, wettability, solubility, color, particle size, thermal behavior, relative crystallinity, and micrographs were analyzed. Moreover, chemical structure of the microcapsule powder was identified using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Best results were achieved when Fingered citron extract was encapsulated using gum arabic/maltodextrin/modified starch (GMS) formulation as carrier agents, where it had the highest encapsulation yield (89.39%) and encapsulation efficiency (87.20%). Furthermore, it achieved the best result in density properties, flowability, porosity, wettability, and relative crystallinity. These results have shown that using gum arabic/maltodextrin/modified starch formulation was superior for production of the Fingered citron extract microcapsules powders.