Extracts from plant essentialoils (terpenes) can be stabilised by encapsulation in thepolysaccharide beta-cyclodextrin and modifiedstarch, suggests new research from greece. the study, publishedonline in the journal offood science , supports and emphasises the potential of these polysaccharidesto protect value-added ingredients,including nutrients,flavoursand colours. "the terpene complexes with beta-cyclodextrin and modifiedstarch can be used as additivesto the foods,to which they are normally added as flavours,with the advantage of higher stability," wrote the researchers fromharokopio university and the technological educational institute of athens.beta-cyclodextrin (b-cd) is a chemically and physically stablepolysaccharide produced by the enzymatic modification of starch.some cyclodextins are already used as carriers for natural colours, flavoursand vitamins,solubilisers of lipids,stabilisersof oilin water emulsions,or flavouror aromamodifiers in a variety of processedfoods. the greek researchers investigated the potential of b-cd(aldrich chemie, germany) and modifiedstarch (ms, obtained from cargill)to encapsulate thymol (obtained from riedel-de haen, germany) and geraniol (mpbiomedicals, france). thymol has previously been reported to possessantibacterial and antimicrobial activity, as well as helping maintain polyunsaturatedfatty acids (pufa)levels in cell membranes. on the other hand, geraniol has been reported toexhibit anti-tumour activity against various cancercell lines, both in vitro and in vivo . the researchers used both spray- andfreeze-drying to test the potential of the encapsulation technique, with msfound to encapsulate both compounds very effectively - encapsulationefficiencies of thymol and geraniol of above 90 per cent for both. b-cdencapsulated more thymol (more than 95 per cent) than geraniol (about 60 percent), they report. " this difference may be assigned to b -cd, whichoffers the optimum cavity environment for encapsulating phenyl-ringed moleculeslike thymol ," wrote the researchers. in order to test the stability ofthe encapsulate nutraceuticals against oxidative decay, the researchers testedthe microcapsules under conditions at which free terpenes are oxidised.importantly, thymol and geranoil enclosed in b-cd wereprotected against oxidation, they said. moreover, retention of the compounds inthe microcapsules dispersed in water was superior for thymol, with both b-cdand ms retaining about 70 per cent after ten hours. however, the majority ofthe geraniol was released when the capsules were dispersed in water.microcapsules are tinyparticles that contain an active agent or core material surrounded by a shellor coating, and are now increasingly being used in foodingredients preparation. the research is in-line with the currenttrend of foodmanufacturers to turn to encapsulation technologies as a way ofachieving much-needed differentiation and enhancing productvalue. tapping into key and emerging consumertrends with innovative techniques is becoming increasingly important for foodmanufacturers.

ter-taste.htm">bitter tasteof the soy proteinhydrolysate solution, they added. “the main bitterpeptideshold in their chains non-polaramino acids situated at the middle or the extremity of the peptidechain and this structural characteristic is fundamental for the interaction ofthese amino acidswith the tastesensitive cells at the tongue,” explained the researchers. “thus the higherproportions of alpha-cd, which have led to significant reduction in the bitternessof the soyhydrolysate, were sufficient to increase the amino acidand peptidecomplexed populations in the hydrolysate mixture up to the point ofsignificantly lowering the solution bitternessintensity.”