Stability and encapsulation efficiency of sulforaphane microencapsulated by spray drying

Sulforaphane (SF) has received much attention because of its anticarcinogenic, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, but it is quite unstable. Microencapsulation is one way to improve its stability. The aim of this work was to produce microcapsules containing sulforaphane using a spray drying technique. The effects of different wall materials, inlet air temperature and core to wall ratio on the SF stability, encapsulation efficiency, encapsulation yield, moisture content and SF content were determined. The results indicated that optimal encapsulation conditions for SF were: maltodextrin for the wall material, 170 °C for the inlet air temperature and 1:20 for the core/wall ratio. Characterization study showed that the microcapsules had a regular spherical shape. The stability of SF in spray dried microcapsules was greatly enhanced compared with that of free SF.