Microencapsulation Of Peppermint Oil By Spray Drying

Microencapsulation is one of the quality preservation techniques of sensitive substances used in food and pharmaceutical industries. Peppermint oil was encapsulated with gum arabic, maltodextrin, and a blend,(1:1 by mass) of gum arabic and maltodextrin by spray drying. The drying gas was hot air at an inlet temperature 200 0 C. No valuable changes were detected in the chemical composition of peppermint oil after encapsulation. The materials giving the highest flavor retention during drying were gum arabic and the (1:1)blend, as they provided acceptable oil retention (81% and 80%) ,respectively. The results showed the high safety of encapsulated peppermint oil, as biological evaluation showed that serum glucose, cholesterol and aminotransferases enzymes exhibited no significant change as compared to control mice. Meanwhile, creatinine (mg/dl) was significantly, but slightly, increased from 0.8 to 1.07 mg/dl after feeding diet containing encapsulated peppermint oil.