Encapsulation and Stability Study of Monascus Fermented Rice Extract

Monascus fermented rice (MFR) or angkak is a product resulting from rice fermentation using Monascus sp. For the application in functional food of MFR extract, the encapsulation and stability of this pigment have been studied. The extract of MFR was evaluated its stability to that of pH (2-6), temperature (40-70oC) and UV light exposure. Encapsulation of MFR was carried out by spray drying (SD) and freeze drying (FD) methods with dextrin as encapsulating agent. The encapsulated products was analyzed the encapsulation yields, hygroscopicity and monacolin K content. The absorbance of MFR extracts was increased by increasing the pH. The extract was stable after heat treatment at 50oC, but the absorbance was increased gradually when heating elevated up to 70oC. The absorbance tend to stable after exposed to UV light for 5 hours. Encapsulation yields of MFR extract by SD method (34.00%) was lower than by FD method (89.71%). Monacolin K content of encapsulated product by SD method was 898.7 μg g-1 and by FD method was 1458.3 μg g-1. However, the product by FD method was more hygroscopic compared to SD method.