ABSTRACT
Experiments were conducted on microencapsulation of garlic oleoresin by spray drying with garlic oleoresin concentration (10%, 20% and 30%) as core material, maltodextrin concentration (40%, 50% and 60%) as wall material and inlet temperature of drying air (180 °C, 200 °C and 220 °C) as process parameters. The process in-terms of encapsulation efficiency was optimised following response surface methodology and Pareto analysis of variance (ANOVA). Second order polynomial regression model showed good fit of the experimental data with high coefficient of determination (R(2)) along with predicted values. The relationships between the independent and dependent parameters were represented using response surface and contour plots. The optimum levels of process parameters, viz., garlic oleoresin concentration, maltodextrin concentration and inlet temperature of air drying were found to be 10%, 60% and 200 °C, respectively with the maximum encapsulation efficiency of 81.9% and desirability of 0.998. The microencapsulated garlic oleoresin powder obtained at optimized conditions was spherical with smooth surface as analysed through scanning electron microscopy.
