Abstract:

Microencapsulation is an effective method to protect the stability of astaxanthin from environmental factors.
Astaxanthin was microencapsulated by spray drying method using hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD) and
maltodextrin as wall materials. Based on single factor experiments, the microencapsulation conditions were optimized using
response surface methodology. A mathematical regression model was established for predicting the microencapsulation
efficiency of astaxanthin at different levels of proportion of HP-β-CD to maltodextrin, wall material concentration and
sucrose ester concentration. The optimal microencapsulation conditions were determined as follows: a ratio of HP-β-CD to
maltodextrin of 2.9:1, 0.21 g/mL wall materials, 2% sucrose ester, 4% astaxanthin, and a spray air inlet temperature of 170 ℃.
Under the optimized conditions, the microencapsulation efficiency was 95.31%.

Key words: astaxanthin, microencapsulation, response surface methodology