L-ascorbic acid is a water soluble vitamin (vitamin C) widely used as an additive in foods and cosmetics. It has high instability against certain environmental factors; the main cause of its deterioration is oxidation. Microencapsulation is an effective protection technique of L-ascorbic acid from its degradation reactions. This work is focused on the encapsulation of L-ascorbic acid by spray drying technique using sodium alginate as wall material. The microcapsules morphology was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the encapsulation efficiency was determined by spectrophotometric analysis. Results showed that encapsulation efficiency was of 93.48% and after 30 days was of 92.55%; differences were not significant, so that the stability of L-ascorbic acid was not affected. Encapsulation yields obtained were low, at around 30%, but the microcapsules morphology obtained is spherical.

Enzymes have been used in detergents over the years. They can improve the detergent's efficiency due to their activities against hard stains. Nevertheless, enzymes cannot maintain their properties indefinitely, since they are exposed to stress factors, like temperature, pH, mechanical processes and others. Consequently, enzymes lose their structure and they are not functional. For this reason, microencapsulating these proteins is a feasible solution to improve their use in industrial processes and commercial products. Spray drying technology has been selected because a lot of scientific literature proved its useful application in a variety of industries. In particular, savinase and lipase are the two encapsulated enzymes in this work. Savinase attacks proteins and lipase removes fats, so they are suitable enzymes for detergent industry. Arabic gum has been used as wall material. Morphology, size and activity of the obtained microcapsules have been analyzed in order to find the best conditions to produce them. In conclusion, useful microcapsules of lipase and savinase can be obtained with the mentioned technology.

Coating protects substances such as L-ascorbic acid from natural processes like oxidation. In this study, L-ascorbic acid was coated by fluid bed technology. A pH-dependent polymer was used as a coating material in order to release L-ascorbic acid (dissolution above pH 5.5) under conditions closest to the skin's natural condition. Different techniques were used to determine the coating (SEM and size distribution) and to evaluate the percentage of coated L-ascorbic acid and its diffusion through the skin.