Application of argun fruit polysaccharide in microencapsulation of Citrus aurantium L. essential oil: preparation, characterization, and evaluating the storage stability and antioxidant activity

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influences of the partial replacement of the maltodextrin (MD) as primary wall material by argun fruit polysaccharide (AFPS) as a new promising wall material in microencapsulation of Citrus aurantium L. essential oil (CAEO). The emulsions properties, yield, microencapsulation efficiency (MEE), structural and physicochemical characteristics, thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA), glass transition temperatures by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), crystallinity, oxidative and antioxidant stability of the freeze-dried CAEO microcapsules were investigated. The highest values of viscosity and droplet size were achieved by CAEO emulsion stabilized with GMA100 formulation. The yield and MEE of CAEO microcapsules were significantly enhanced with increasing of AFPS in the formulations. The partial replacement treatments by AFPS increased solubility, bulk density, tapped density, particle density, and porosity of the obtained microcapsules. FTIR, X-ray, DSC, and TGA techniques were confirmed that the encapsulation of CAEO was perfectly successful. The partial replacement of MD with AFPS improved the oxidative stability and antioxidant activity of microencapsulated CAEO during the storage. Depending on physicochemical properties, thermal stability, and antioxidant activity, it could be considered these microcapsules have promising applications in the functional food and medicine industry.