Encapsulation and Control Release in Food Engineering

Encapsulation and controlled-release systems are designed to protect actives from undergoing undesirable interactions while enhancing their functionality and bioavailability. Other objectives include masking the taste of bitter components, ensuring adequate administration of heat- or oxidation-labile health actives, and ensuring their delivery at a predetermined rate to a target site. Encapsulation is a process to entrap active agents within a carrier material and it is a useful tool to improve delivery of bioactive molecules and living cells into foods. Encapsulation aims to preserve stability of the bioactive compounds during processing and storage and to prevent undesirable interactions with food matrix. A large number of substances are used to encapsulate solid or liquid food ingredients. The choice of encapsulating materials depends on the types, origins, and properties of these food ingredients. Applications for encapsulation have been slow to expand since the technique was formerly thought to be too expensive and highly specific.