Flavor Encapsulation
The technologies of encapsulation are powerful tools for
protecting a sensitive natural extract or masking the
undesired taste of a functional ingredient.
Imad A. Farhat, PhD
Firmenich, Inc.
E
ncapsulation is one of the most important enablers for the flavor industry,
allowing it to meet the technological challenges brought by growing food and beverage product innovations.
Indeed, whether the challenge is delivering the flavor in a new-food-product format, protecting a sensitive natural extract
or masking the undesired taste of a functional ingredient, a specific encapsulation
technology is needed.
Industry and consumer trends that have
driven the increased need for existing or
improved flavor delivery and encapsulation
include convenience, preference towards
natural flavors and extracts, health and wellness, and environmental sustainability.
There is often confusion between flavor
delivery and encapsulation. While encapsulation enables flavor delivery, not all delivery systems provide the benefits of encapsulation, e.g., flavor protection and
controlled release, which are described in
detail subsequently in this paper.
In delivery systems, the emphasis is on the
physical structure that enables a flavor, often
a liquid, to be conveyed to the specific food
product and ultimately to the consumer, with
no prerequisite on flavor protection. Delivery
systems include relatively simple approaches
such as producing flavor emulsions or powders where the flavor is plated onto a variety of solid carriers such as sugars, maltodextrins, modified starches, or fruit or
vegetable fibers, and extends to the more
elaborate encapsulation technologies.
ENCAPSULATION TECHNOLOGIES
The flavor industry and the wider food-ingredients industry have developed a wide range
of encapsulated products. These can be
mapped on the Encapsulated Technologies
table (Figure 1) which summarizes the release
behavior for the most common encapsulation technologies. Spray drying and extrusion
represent the large majority of commercial
products as a result of the feasibility of their
production in large scale and their versatility.
It is worth noting that the inclusion of
spray-dried (including agglomerated and
granulated variants), spray-chilled and even
some of the core-shell technologies under an
encapsulation banner, which implies
increased chemical stability of the flavor, is
subject to an active debate among experts in
the field. These are included in this paper
in the interest of completeness.
Beyond the technological necessities for
flavor delivery systems that are physically
compatible with the application (e.g., solid
versus liquid, solids with particle size and
shape that enable dosing and mixing and
reduce segregation), encapsulation plays a
critical role in affecting and controlling sensory performance.
We will focus on the areas where
encapsulation contributes to the eating
experience.
➤
Imad Farhat is associate director, global
product & technology
management for
encapsulation, at
Firmenich.
The Manufacturing Confectioner • August 2010 71