Microencapsulation of krill oil using complex coacervation

Abstract

The research work was aimed at the development of a process to yield gelatin-gum Arabic multinuclear microcapsules of krill oil (KO), via complex coacervation. On the basis of the experimental results of the screening trials, a three-level-by-three-factor Box–Behnken design was used to evaluate the effects of the ratio of the core material to the wall (RCW; x₁), the stirring speed (SP; x₂) and the pH (x₃) on the encapsulation efficiency (EE). The experimental findings indicated that x₃ has the most significant linear and quadratic effects on the EE of KO and a bilinear effect with x₁, whereas x₂ did not have any significant effect. The optimal conditions for a 92% of EE were: 1.75:1 for RCW, 3.8 for pH and 3 for SP. The microcapsules, formed by complex coacervation and without any cross-linking agent, were multinucleated, circular in shape and had sufficient stability to maintain their structure.

• Beef gelatin
• Box–Behnken
• gum Arabic
• multinucleated capsules

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr Jaqueline C. Bede for providing access to the stereomicroscope facility.