Encapsulation of orange oil in a spray dried double emulsion

Encapsulation is an important technique being used to protect sensitive food materials like flavours from deterioration. The capsule wall isolates them from the atmospheric oxygen, moisture, temperature and light. Encapsulation also masks some objectionable flavours, e. g. fish oil and some bitter antibiotics. In this study orange oil was encapsulated in the inner compartment of a double emulsion belonging to the type O1-W-O2 where O1 is orange oil, W is water and O2 is vegetable oil. In order to make orange oil double emulsion suitable for use in dry mixes, it was secondarily coated with wall materials of lactose and caseinate using spray drying technique. Entrapment of orange oil in such structure is also expected to slow down the release of volatiles and guarantee more protection for orange oil against atmospheric conditions. This method may have a potential application in different types of food or pharmaceutical products where maximum protection for flavours or slow release are required. This study includes detailed preparation of the spray dried double emulsion, evaluation of the encapsulation efficiency using light and scanning electron microscope and calculation of the yield percent of the encapsulated oil. In a separate paper we will examine the efficiency of spray dried double emulsion to control the release of orange oil by GC.