Extrusion is widely used for flavour encapsulation. However, there is a lack of process understanding. This study is aimed at improving the understanding of a counter rotating twin screw extrusion process. Orange terpenes as model flavour, maltodextrin and sucrose as matrix materials, and a water feed rate between 4.0% and 5.7% were applied. Product temperatures < 80 °C and specific mechanical energy inputs <260 Wh/kg resulted. Amorphous and partly crystalline samples were obtained. The loss of crystalline sucrose was linked to a dissolution process of the sugar in the available water amount. Melting of the excipients did not arise, resulting in a plasticisation extrusion process. Maximally 67% of the flavour was retained (corresponding to a 4.1% product flavour load). The flavour loss correlated with insufficient mixing during the process and flavour evaporation after extrusion. Based on these results, recommendations for an improved encapsulation process are given.
Keywords: Flavour encapsulation; maltodextrin; melting; plasticisation; sucrose; twin screw extrusion.