Vegetable proteins in microencapsulation: A review of recent interventions and their effectiveness

Proteins from vegetable seeds are interesting for research at present because they are an abundant alternative to animal-based sources of proteins and petroleum-derived polymers. They are a renewable and biodegradable raw material with interesting functional and/or physico-chemical properties. In microencapsulation, these biopolymers are used as a wall forming material for a variety of active compounds. In most cases, two techniques of microencapsulation, spray-drying and coacervation, are used for the preparation of microparticles from vegetable proteins. Proteins extracted from soy bean, pea and wheat have already been studied as carrier materials for microparticles. These proteins could be suitable shell or matrix materials and show good process efficiency. Some other plant proteins, such as rice, oat or sunflower, with interesting functional properties could be investigated as potential matrices for microencapsulation.

► Vegetable proteins are biopolymers with interesting functional properties.
► Proteins from soy, pea and cereals have already been studied in microencapsulation.
► Spray-drying and coacervation are two methods used for encapsulation by natural proteins.
► Proteins from rice, oat and sunflower are potentially useful in microencapsulation.