Drying of single droplets/particles containing functional oils

Satisfactory incorporation of functional oils into processed foods is not straightforward because of their susceptibility to autoxidation and low solubility. Microencapsulation technology could solve these problems and spray drying is one of the most promising methods for encapsulating functional oils. Enhancing the encapsulation efficiency and reducing the lipid oxidation are the most important challenges of spray drying for microencapsulation. Understanding the drying behavior of single liquid droplets is of utmost importance for the prediction of physicochemical properties or functionality of the final microparticles. The drying behavior of droplets and particles containing functional oils is studied through both simulations and experiments. The insights gained from this study can be used to track the encapsulation efficiency and the lipid oxidation during the drying of droplets and particles containing functional ingredients.