EFFECT OF ENCAPSULATION ON THE OXIDATIVE STABILITY OF EDIBLE OILS
There is an increasing demand for healthy foods, in this case, edible oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) belong to this category, being omega 3 and omega 6 essential for human nutrition. These PUFAs are not synthesized by the body and must be obtained from external food sources, such as the consumption of vegetable oils. PUFAs rich oils are more susceptible to oxidation reactions, indicating the need to increase their stability. Microencapsulation is an interesting technology that may efficient to protect edible oils against oxidative deterioration during processing and storage among other advantages. The objective of this work was to microencapsulate oils from chia seeds, green coffee, pumpkin seeds, baru and walnut aiming to increase their oxidative stability. Oils were characterized by titratable acidity, density, humidity and fatty acids composition (by Gas Chromatography, GC). Oil-loaded microparticles were prepared using stearic acid as wall material and sodium caseinate as stabilizer by the hot homogenization technique. Freeze-dried microparticles were characterized by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Laser Diffraction, Encapsulation Efficiency (by GC). The oxidative stability of both free oils and microcapsules was evaluated by the integral isoconversional methodology known as Ozawa, Flynn and Wall (OFW) method to determine the kinetic parameters of the oxidation reaction. Characterization of the oils indicated they were not damaged during extraction and storage before encapsulation. Encapsulation efficiencies around 66% and average size diameters of less than 100 micrometers were found for all the microparticles produced. Their characterization showed that the oils were satisfactorily encapsulated inside the microparticles. Thermal analysis indicated an increase in activation energy and in the onset oxidation temperatures when comparing the oils and the oil-loaded microparticles. Microencapsulation of the oils proved to be a promising alternative for the protection against oxidative degradation.