Influence of Flavour Load and Inlet Air Temperature on Microencapsulation of Vanilla Extract by Spray Drying

Vanillin, the major aroma composition obtained from spice vanilla is highly volatile and heat sensitive and limits its application in food incorporation in natural form. The degradation can be minimized by encapsulation technique with suitable wall materials. The maize starch as wall material was emulsified with 10, 20 and 30% of vanilla extract (flavour load) with 50% solid content and spray dried at inlet temperatures of 170, 180 and 190°C. Moisture content and bulk density decreased with increase in flavour load and inlet air temperature. The encapsulation efficiency varies between 66 to 81.93% with highest value obtained at flavour load of 10% and inlet air temperature of 180°C. The study concluded that the microencapsulation of vanilla extract with maize starch as wall material and a flavour load of 10% spray dried with an inlet air temperature of 180°C produced superior quality encapsulated powder.