Amelioration of the stability of polyunsaturated fatty acids and bioactive enriched vegetable oil: blending, encapsulation, and its application

Abstract

Lipid oxidation in vegetable oils is the primary concern for food technologists. Modification of oils like hydrogenation, fractionation, inter-esterification, and blending are followed to improve nutritional quality. Blending non-conventional/conventional vegetable oils to obtain a synergistic oil mixture is commonly practiced in the food industry to enhance the nutritional characteristics and stability of oil at an affordable price. Microencapsulation of these oils provides a functional barrier of core and coating material from the adverse environmental conditions, thereby enhancing the oxidative stability, thermo-stability, shelf-life, and biological activity of oils. Microencapsulation of oils has been conducted and commercialized by employing different conventional methods including emulsification, spray-drying, freeze-drying, coacervation, and melt-extrusion compared with new, improved methods like microwave drying, spray chilling, and co-extrusion. The microencapsulated oil emulsion can be either dried to easy-to-handle solids/microcapsules, converted into soft solids, or enclosed in a gel-like matrix, increasing the shelf-life of the liquid oil. The omega-rich microcapsules have a wide application in confectionery, dairy, ice-cream, and pharmaceutical industries. This review summarizes recent developments in blending and microencapsulation technologies in improving the stability and nutritional value of edible oils.

Keywords:

• Application
• blending
• encapsulation
• microcapsules
• oxidative stability

Author contributions

Monalisha Pattnaik: conceptualization, co-developed the methodology, drafted the manuscript by analyzing the literature and heavily involved in curating the manuscript. Hari Niwas Mishra: Supervision, conceptualized the idea, co-developed the methodology, involved in review & editing.

Conflicts of interest

The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article.

Additional information

Funding

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) Fellowship to the first author.