Production of ascorbic acid microcapsules using microfluidic device

• Grant number: 12/04451-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Master's degree
• Start date: October 01, 2012
• End date: March 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Carmen Sílvia Fávaro Trindade
• Grantee: Talita Aline Comunian
• Supervisor: David A. Weitz
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Zootecnia e Engenharia de Alimentos (FZEA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Pirassununga , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Harvard University, Cambridge, United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/03882-9 - Ascorbic acid encapsulation using double emulsion technique, BP.MS

Abstract

The use of antioxidants in the food industry and its functional mechanisms have been widely studied because of lipid oxidation, which is responsible for making the food unfit for consumption, and also cause changes that will affect not only the nutritional quality, but also integrity and food safety. Ascorbic acid is a very effective antioxidant with vitamin function; however, it is too unstable to several factors. The encapsulation using microfluidic device will be studied as an alternative to solve such problems. So, the objective of this work will produce microcapsules of ascorbic acid by double emulsion method with microfluidic device, using corn oil and palm interesterified fat and palm kernel as wall material. Six treatments will be prepared with the variation of concentration and composition of the oil phase, the overall size and the thickness of the shell of the emulsion. The treatments will be evaluated about the morphology, by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy, encapsulation efficiency, particle size distribution, stability of the emulsion and the encapsulated material, diffusion coefficient (D) and Fourier transform infrared (Ft-ir). The data will be statistically analyzed by ANOVA and Tukey test at 5%. It is expected to get stable microcapsules, increasing the possibility to use ascorbic acid as an additive in food. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

COMUNIAN, TALITA A.; ABBASPOURRAD, ALIREZA; FAVARO-TRINDADE, CARMEN S.; WEITZ, DAVID A.. Fabrication of solid lipid microcapsules containing ascorbic acid using a microfluidic technique. Food Chemistry, v. 152, p. 271-275, JUN 1 2014. (12/04451-4)