Antioxidant peptide enriched casein hydrolysate (AO-CH) are receiving increasing attention due to their potential as functional ingredient. Encapsulation of AO-CH using maltodextrin-gum arabic (MD/GA) as wall material could represent an attractive approach to overcome the problems related to their direct application. Encapsulation parameter were optimized using different ratio of core to coat and proportion of coating material (10:0, 8:2, 6:4) under varying pH (2-8) for encapsulation efficiency (EE).The preparation P3 resulted in maximum EE (87%) using core to coat ratio 1:20, at pH 6.0 with 8:2 MD/GA ratio. The encapsulated preparation showed reduced bitterness (p < 0.05) compared to the casein hydrolysate together with maximum retention of antioxidant activity (93%). Further, the narrow range of particle size, indicates their better stability and represents a promising food additive for incorporation in food.
Keywords: Antioxidant peptides; Bitter taste; Casein hydrolysate; Gum arabic; Maltodextrin; Microencapsulation.