Electrospraying is a potential answer to the demands of nanoparticle fabrication such as scalability, reproducibility, and effective encapsulation in food nanotechnology. Electrospraying (and the related process of electrospinning) both show promise as a novel delivery vehicle for supplementary food compounds since the process can be carried out from an aqueous solution, at room temperature and without coagulation chemistry to produce matrices or particulates in the micro- and nano-range. The presentation of core materials at the nanoscale improves target ability to specific areas of the digestive tract and gives improved control of release rate. Adoption of these electrohydrodynamic atomization technologies will allow the industry to develop a wide range of novel high added value functional foods. To optimize production conditions and maximize throughput, a clear understanding of the mechanism of electrospraying is essential. This article presents a comprehensive review of the principles of electrospraying to produce nanoparticles suitable for food technology application, particularly for use in encapsulation and as nanocarriers.
The objective of this work was to investigate whether the use of unpurified agar-based fractions extracted from the seaweed Gelidium as microencapsulation matrices has an impact on probiotic protection during storage. Therefore, unpurified and pure agar and agarose-based microcapsules were produced through emulsification/internal gelation for the protection of Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum CECT 7765. Initially, agarosebased formulations with other biopolymers were evaluated, given the excellent oxygen barrier properties of this polysaccharide. The optimal combination in terms of probiotic protection was selected for further experiments and this agarose-based formulation was compared with microcapsules produced using both pure and unpurified agar-based fractions. The presence of other compounds (mainly proteins and polyphenols) in the unpurified agar fractions significantly improved the viability of these sensitive probiotic bacteria both at ambient and refrigerated storage conditions. Furthermore, the presence of impurities allowed the increase of solids content in the formulation giving raise to stronger gel particles, which could contribute to limited oxygen diffusion, thus, partly explaining the improved protection. Therefore, this work demonstrates the potential of more cost-effective less purified carbohydrate-based fractions for probiotic protection.
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