POTENTIAL APPLICATION OF MICROENCAPSULATION IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY.

In the food sector, encapsulation is a process of coating one or more food ingredients through an edible capsule. This is a relatively new technology that has been used successfully in the food industry. Several techniques have been used in the production of microparticles, such as: extrusion, spray drying, complex coacervation, fluidized bed, lyophilization, internal and external ionic gelation, liposomes and molecular inclusion. Microencapsulation, in addition to increasing the performance and availability of active agents, has solved limitations in the use of food ingredients, since it can suppress or attenuate undesirable organoleptic characteristics (flavors, odors and color) of some compounds, reduce volatility and reactivity and increase their stability under adverse environmental conditions (oxygen, light, moisture, pH and incompatible agents).The present study presents a review of the literature on encapsulation in food technology - history of encapsulation/microencapsulation, encapsulating agent, encapsulated agent, controlled release mechanisms, techniques used in microencapsulation and potential application in the food industry.