Methods of Flavor Encapsulation and Matrix-Assisted Concentration of Aqueous Foods and Products Produced Therefrom

Abstract

Flavor encapsulation is generally performed by mixing flavor with a prolamin solution and drying the mixture into powdered forms of encapsulated flavor. In one embodiment, flavor and zein are separately dispersed in an alcohol-water mixture of appropriate ratio prior to mixing. In another embodiment, an aqueous food comprising bioactive components is mixed with the prolamin solution, thereby initiating precipitation of the prolamin and concentration of the bioactive components in said aqueous food. Resulting powdered forms of encapsulated flavor comprise the bioactive components from the aqueous food. In another embodiment, a two-phase drying process may be employed comprising removal of alcohol for evaporation-induced-self-assembly of zein microstructures, followed by removal of remaining water to produce said powdered form.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An improved method for encapsulating flavors in which a prolamin is dissolved to form a prolamin solution, a flavoring is mixed with the prolamin solution to form a mixed solution, and the mixed solution is dried to form a powder comprising prolamin-encapsulated flavoring, wherein the improvements comprise:
 a) dissolving said flavoring in an alcohol solution prior to mixing said flavoring with said prolamin solution; and   b) drying said mixed solution using a two-phase drying process to form said powder comprising prolamin-encapsulated flavoring.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of sonicating the solution of step a). 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the dissolving of step a) comprises dissolving the flavoring in an ethanolic solution. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said two-phase drying process of step b) comprises:
 a) drying the mixed solution; and 
 b) freeze-drying said mixed solution. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein said drying is performed under a hood for at least about 4 hours. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising vacuum drying. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 2  wherein said sonicating step is performed for between about 2 and about 5 minutes. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein said sonicating produces flavor droplet sizes of between about 100 to about 200 nm. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said two-phase drying process comprises removing the alcohol from said mixed solution followed by a step of removing remaining water to form said powder. 
     
     
         10 . The prolamin encapsulation produced by the method of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         11 . A powdered prolamin encapsulation comprising bioactive components of an aqueous food, wherein said prolamin is present in an amount of between about 10% to about 99% by weight. 
     
     
         12 . The encapsulation of  claim 11 , wherein said prolamin comprises zein. 
     
     
         13 . The encapsulation of  claim 11 , wherein said powder comprises a particle size of approximately 10 to approximately 100 microns. 
     
     
         14 . The encapsulation of  claim 11 , wherein said aqueous food is derived from the group consisting of lime, cucumber, lemon, and orange. 
     
     
         15 . The encapsulation of  claim 11  wherein said bioactive components comprise substantially all flavors and nutrients of said aqueous food.