Microencapsulation of stearidonic acid soybean oil in Maillard reaction-modified complex coacervates

The antioxidant capacity of Maillard reaction (MR)-modified gelatin (GE)-gum arabic (GA) coacervates was optimized to produce microcapsules with superior oxidative stability compared to the unmodified control. MR was used to crosslink GE and GA, with or without maltodextrin (MD), to produce anti-oxidative Maillard reaction products (MRP) which was used to encapsulate stearidonic acid soybean oil (SDASO) by complex coacervation. Biopolymer blends (GE-GA [1:1, w/w] or GE-GA-MD [2:2:1, w/w/w]) were crosslinked by dry-heating at 80 °C for 4, 8, or 16 h. Relationships between the extent of browning, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC), and the total oxidation (TOTOX) of encapsulated SDASO were fitted to quadratic models. The [GE-GA-MD] blends exhibited higher browning rates and TEAC values than corresponding [GE-GA] blends. Depending on the type of biopolymer blend and dry-heating time, TOTOX values of SDASO in MRP-derived microcapsules were 29-87% lower than that of the non-crosslinked control after 30 days of storage.