Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of nanoencapsulated food ingredients

Abstract Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is one of the most applicable thermal analysis methods to provide thermal behavior of a substance. In addition to some thermodynamic variables, DSC can give information about transitions temperatures, degree of crystallization, melting, and heat capacity. In addition, it is possible to achieve valuable results about structural and chemical properties of the sample by coupling DSC with other analytical devices. Furthermore, there are some unique DSC applications for encapsulated food ingredients. Confirmation of encapsulation, evaluation of encapsulation efficiency, estimation of water content and determination of storage stability are of the greatest importance and can be obtained by DSC analysis. In this chapter, at first a brief description of fundamentals, importance, and elements of DSC is presented. Then the application of DSC to investigate thermal characteristics of some biopolymers such as proteins, polysaccharides, and lipids is explained. These biopolymers are extensively used as wall materials in nanoencapsulation and they should be thermally stable in order to protect the bioactive ingredients against heat processing. In the next section, the unique application of DSC for encapsulation is described. In the final section, some of the latest attempts for enhancing thermal stability of certain bioactive ingredients by encapsulation is reported.