What is micro-encapsulation powder for food additives?

Micro-encapsulation powder is a powdery substance formed by using microcapsule technology to wrap solid, liquid, or gas substances in high-quality wall materials. These tiny particles, known as microcapsules, are granular or spherical in appearance, with diameters usually ranging from 1 to 500 microns and wall thicknesses ranging from 0.5 to 150 microns.

Application in oils and fats

Oils and fats come from a wide range of sources, are rich in nutrients, and have many functions. They have high application value in the fields of medicine, food, and cosmetics. However, because they contain unsaturated fatty acids, they are easily oxidized and deteriorate, which limits their application. Microcapsule technology can effectively wrap the oil in a sealed, tiny capsule, turning it from liquid to solid, which helps improve the various properties of the oil, such as volume, color, odor, etc. Microencapsulated oil core materials can be divided into three categories according to the source of oil: vegetable oils, animal oils, and microbial oils. Wall materials commonly used for oil microencapsulation mainly include carbohydrates and proteins. Common capsule formation methods include spray drying, vacuum freeze-drying, etc.

Application in beverages

With the advancement of science and technology and the improvement of consumption levels, consumers have higher and higher requirements for beverages. The introduction of microcapsule technology can improve the defects of original beverages or give them special functionality.

The use of microcapsule technology can improve beverage product defects, such as fading, browning, sedimentation and stratification, reduced nutritional value, flavor deterioration and poor solubility. Some fruit and vegetable juice drinks contain tiny colored fibers, which make the color of the drink unstable and prone to fading and precipitation. If microcapsules are used to encapsulate tiny colored pulp or fiber particles to form colored microcapsules, the color, flavor and even taste of fruit and vegetable drinks can be comprehensively improved.

The use of microencapsulation technology can also improve the nutritional value of beverage products or provide them with specific functions. For example, microcapsule technology is used to encapsulate hesperidin. The resulting high-hesperidin orange juice drink has a good flavor, which not only improves the nutritional value of the orange juice drink, but also opens up a new way for the application of hesperidin. 

Application in dairy products

Dairy products are the main food carrier for nutritional fortification or functionalization, but some nutrients carry unpleasant odors or are unstable in nature, which increases the difficulty of nutritional fortification. If these nutrients are encapsulated in microcapsules, it can not only enhance the stability of the product, but also give the product a unique flavor and mask odors. For powdered dairy products, it can also improve caking and reconstitution properties and extend shelf life.

In recent years, microencapsulation technology has been widely used to encapsulate polyunsaturated fatty acids and probiotics. For example, after DHA is microencapsulated, the ingredient has high activity, is not easily oxidized, and has stable quality. When added to dairy products, it masks the fishy smell and improves the palatability of the product. Dairy processing companies have also used microcapsule technology to speed up the ripening process in cheese production, thereby improving the company's production efficiency and reducing production costs. For example, when phytosterol ester microcapsules are used in quark cheese, phytosterol esters can reduce plasma total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Through research on the addition process, it is believed that adding it before milk sterilization and after whey is discharged, and controlling the fermentation temperature, the cheese made has good sensory quality and has certain functionality.

Application in baked goods

During the processing of baked food, if acidic ingredients are added, it will easily react with another ingredient, sodium bicarbonate, to release CO2, which will reduce the rising effect of the dough and cause the baked products to be insufficiently fluffy. Using microcapsule technology to embed sodium bicarbonate and then release it under specific conditions can ensure the fluffiness of baked products to the greatest extent.

Application in food additives

Food additives are an indispensable role in the food industry, with various types and functions. Compliant use can improve food quality or extend shelf life and improve processing performance. Relevant studies have shown that the function, stability and use effect of some food additives treated with microencapsulation technology will be greatly improved, mainly in the following aspects. ① Change the physical state of food additives to improve their ease of use and processability. ② Control the release time and speed of food additives to achieve sustained release or timed effects. The toxicity of some food additives can also be alleviated. ③Enhance the stability of food additives, reduce interference from environmental factors or obtain protection. ④ Mask the bad smell of some food additives themselves and expand the scope of use.

After years of technological research and development, HSF Biotech has formed a system solution for the application difficulties of functional food raw materials.

For functional oil raw materials, natural polymer materials are used to embed the oil raw materials to form microcapsules with an oil-in-water (O/W) structure. Based on the chemical and physical properties of different functional substances and the customized requirements of customers, HSF researches and selects suitable wall materials and linking agents, which can achieve scientific embedding of functional substances. Significantly improves taste, masks odor, increases oxidative stability, enhances mechanical pressure resistance, accelerates dissolution, precisely controlled and sustained release, scientific release, and efficient directional absorption.

For functional powder raw materials, study the synergistic relationship between raw materials and accurately match each functional raw material. According to the physical state of the raw materials, select appropriate adhesives and excipients, and use multi-dimensional granulation technology to accurately control the particle size distribution of the raw material particles; study the chemical and physical properties of the coating film materials, and adopt the best film coating parameters and mode settings , so that the raw material particles and the coating film can achieve a perfect fit and achieve effective embedding.