Résumé
Carotenoids and flavonoids could be beneficial for human health disorders such as cardiovascular disease, macular degeneration, cancer or diabetes [1]. However, this group of lipophilic antioxidants are highly prone to chemical degradation during food processing and storage. The encapsulation of these compounds, isolate the ingredient from the environment and could help to increase the shelf life of the food product and its bioavailability. Natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) could be a green alternative to be used instead of conventional organic solvents, which make the encapsulates unsuitable for food applications. In addition, NADES present low cost, low toxicity, biodegradability and biocompatibility [2]. In this study, the encapsulation of antioxidants, such as β-carotene, catechin, quercetin, in whey protein concentrate (WPC) through emulsion electrospraying technique, using four different NADES as organic solvent [3] was performed. The microparticles obtained were characteterized by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). They were spherical with a smooth surface, without being agglomerated and with sizes around 2.5 μm, as shown in Figure 1. The presence of the bioactives and NADES inside the capsules was confirmed by FT-IR. With this work, it was proved that bioactives together with NADES can be encapsulated inside microcapsules using the electrospraying technology and this opens new opportunities for the production of new delivery systems suitable for the food industry using these solvents.