Abstract: Micro-capsule of ferrous lactate made up of wall materials as β-cricoid dextrin (β-CD), monostearate, edible gelatin and sucrose fatty acid ester can be used as the fortified iron agent for liquid milk. The experiment was carried out with L9(3)4 orthogonal design. The findings indicated that the optimal conditions for the micro-capsulation of ferrous lactate are: β-CD 86.4%, monostearate 1.0%, edible gelatin 10.8% and sucrose fatty acid ester 1.2%. Capsulating the ferrous lactate, the embedding rate of ferrous lactate and the available ferrous content attained are 96.05%, 10.33% respectively and have a significant statistical effect (p<0.05). It shows a protective effect to sensory characteristics of milk fortified with the capsulated ferrous lactate.

Key words: micro-capsule, ferrous lactate, orthogonal design, embedding rate, liquid milk