Wheatgrass juice (Triticum aestivum L.) is known as a healthy drink due to its high antioxidant activity and phenolic content. In order to avoid the undesirable odor and protect the functional compounds, wheatgrass juice was encapsulated using maltodextrin and whey protein. Antioxidant and phenolic content, mean particle size and distribution, morphology, simulated digestion and thermal stability experiments were conducted on the encapsulated powders. Results showed that antioxidant activity was in between 0.30 and 0.06 mg 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)/g powder and phenolic content was 3.52-2.28 mg gallic acid equivalent (GAE)/g powder. Encapsulated powders showed good stability in gastric juice and had 62% higher phenolic content compared to the intestinal fluid within 10 min digestion. Phenolic content of powders was also protected against thermal treatment at 40°C, 55°C and 70°C. Kinetic parameters for degradation of the phenolics were well estimated (R 2 P0.85) using fractional conversion model.

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Oleoresin capsicum, the oil extract of chili pepper, is mainly composed of capsaicin. Capsaicin is a hydrophobic volatile compound exhibiting antimicrobial activity against various microorganisms. Capsaicin in the form of an emulsion-based carrier system could be a good alternative to enhance bioavailability and simultaneously to increase the shelf-life of food. In this study, capsaicin emulsions were formulated using three different surfactants (Tween 80, commercial soy lecithin, and sucrose monopalmitate/SMP). Effects of aqueous phase composition, pH, and heating the pre-homogenized dispersion were investigated. For characterization, NMR relaxometry, color, turbidity, and antioxidant activity experiments were conducted. Antimicrobial efficacies of the emulsions were also evaluated against Escherichia coli andStaphylococcus aureus. Mean particle sizes of emulsions with surfactants Tween 80, lecithin, and SMP were found to be 68.30, 582.63, and 50.10 nm, respectively. Lecithin-containing emulsions showed the highest antimicrobial activity against S. aureus with 4.60 log reduction, whereas the same effect was observed in Tween 80-containing emulsions against E. coli with 3.86 log reduction. Emulsions prepared with SMP showed the highest antioxidant activity with 0.482 mg DPPH/L emulsion. The formulated emulsions have the potential to be used in food industry as antimicrobial food grade solutions.

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