MICROENCAPSULATION of grapefruit oil with sodium alginate by gelation and ionic extrusion: optimization and modeling of crosslinking and study of controlled release kinetics.

Abstract

Essential grapefruit oil with high concentrations of limonene is used in food, cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries due to its antimicrobial properties, fragrance, and flavor. To facilitate its manipulation and protect it from adverse environmental factors, the microencapsulation is used. The objective of this work was to optimize the microencapsulation process of grapefruit oil using external ionic gelation coupled to extrusion with sodium alginate and calcium chloride. We achieved the best encapsulation conditions with calcium chloride concentration at 7.4% w/v and a crosslinking time of 58 minutes, obtaining a yield of 62% and an efficiency of 100% with an oil loading capacity of 10% w/w. The chemical adsorption of calcium as well during the crosslinking process was studied, observing a significant fit with the Elovich equation. And an adjustment of the controlled release of the oil was obtained to the empirical kinetic model of Korsmeyer and Peppas.