Effect of carrier type on the spray-dried willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium L.) leaves extract, powder properties and bioactive compounds encapsulation

Abstract

Willowherb (Epilobium angustifolium L.) leaves are a valuable source of polyphenolic compounds (phenolic acids, flavonoids, and ellagitannins) that are mainly used in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia. In the presented study, the impacts of maltodextrin and whey protein as carriers on the efficiency of spray drying and physicochemical properties of the obtained powders were examined. The use of carriers significantly improved the drying yield (over 60 %). Moisture content, hygroscopicity, and rehydration time of all dried extracts (without the carrier, with maltodextrin and whey protein) were at an acceptable level, while their flowability and cohesiveness were poor. The encapsulation efficiency of polyphenols in a whey protein carrier of 92.02 % was significantly higher compared to 75.80 % for maltodextrin. These results show that whey protein efficiently encloses the extract ingredients into powder particles and thus preserves sensitive phenolic compounds during the drying process. The efficacy of flavonoid encapsulation was also high (93.00 % for maltodextrin and 94.34 % for whey protein), with no statistically significant differences between carrier types. Therefore, willowherb leaves extract can be successfully encapsulated by spray drying using maltodextrin and whey protein as carriers.

Effect of Spray Drying Encapsulation on Nettle Leaf Extract Powder Properties, Polyphenols and Their Bioavailability

“…Tuan et al (2016) [ 58 ] encapsulated guava leaves extracts with mixture of MD and GA. Only 48% of polyphenols was encapsulated by spray drying when compared with polyphenols before encapsulation. On the other hand, Jovanović et al (2021) [ 59 ] concluded that polyphenols retention of willowherb leaves encapsulated extract was 75.80% when 20% MD was used as carrier, which is still lower than in this research. In accordance, in this study the mentioned encapsulated extract was compared with the non-encapsulated extract for the concentrations of phenolic compounds during the in vitro bioavailability phases ( Figure 3 ).…”

Microencapsulates of Blue Maize Polyphenolics as a Promising Ingredient in the Food and Pharmaceutical Industry: Characterization, Antioxidant Properties, and In Vitro-Simulated Digestion

“…The stability and oral bioavailability of phenolic compounds could be improved at the same time by using different carriers to enhance their biological activities [19,20]. Suitable carriers for the microencapsulation process are natural biopolymers, which are commonly used, and well-known polysaccharides such as maltodextrin (MD) [19,[21][22][23][24][25]. Besides the conventional wall material, such as maltodextrin, innovative materials, such as cyclodextrins (CDs), have been proposed to overcome the limitations of polyphenols [23,26].…”