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The aim of this work was to produce and characterize microcapsules of lycopene and to evaluate their stability in comparison with free lycopene. An oily dispersion of lycopene was encapsulated by complex coacervation using gelatin and pectin. Samples were analyzed at four different pH values (3, 3.5, 4 and 4.5) and three proportions of core (25, 50 and 100%). The moisture, water activity, solubility, hygroscopicity, encapsulation efficiency and stability of lycopene microcapsules kept at 10 and 25C were determined. The amount of lycopene in the microcapsule did not have a significant (P < 0.05) effect on water activity, hygroscopic characteristics or the efficiency of microencapsulation. The degradation of lycopene was linear, with an average loss of 14% per week. Therefore, despite the formation of microcapsules and the high values of encapsulation efficiency, the encapsulation method and the wall materials used in this work did not provide effective protection of the lycopene from degradation during storage. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSBecause of its highly unsaturated structure, lycopene is sensitive to heat and light. Lycopene may undergo two changes during processing and storage: oxidation and isomerization from all-trans to mono-cis or poly-cis. The autoxidation of lycopene is irreversible and leads to the fragmentation of the molecule. Microencapsulation is an innovative technology that protects products from environmental conditions and extends shelf life. Thus, the aim of this work was to produce and characterize microcapsules of lycopene and also to evaluate their stability in comparison with free lycopene.

The aim of this work was to encapsulate a casein hydrolysate by spray drying using maltodextrins (DE 10 and 20) as wall materials and to evaluate the efficiency of the microencapsulation in attenuating the bitter taste of the hydrolysate using protein bars as the model system. Microcapsules were evaluated for morphology (SEM), particle size, hygroscopicity, solubility, thermal behavior (DSC), and bitter taste with a trained sensory panel by a paired comparison test (nonencapsulated samples vs. encapsulated samples). Bars were prepared with the addition of 3% casein hydrolysate at free or both encapsulated forms, and were then evaluated for their moisture, water activity (aw) and for their bitter taste by a ranking test. Microcapsules were of the matrix type, having continuous surfaces with no apparent porosity for both coatings. Both encapsulated casein hydrolysates had similar hygroscopicity, and lower values than free encapsulated hydrolysates. The degree of hydrolysis of the maltodextrin influenced only the particle size and Tg. The sensory panel considered the protein bars produced with both encapsulated materials less bitter (p < 0.05) than those produced with the free casein hydrolysates. Microencapsulation by spray drying with maltodextrin DE 10 and 20 was successful to attenuate the bitter taste and the hygroscopicity of casein hydrolysates.

By heating powders of the aluminum monohydroxide fibrillar pseudoboehmite from 200 o C to 1400 o C several high surface area aluminas are prepared and characterized by X-ray diffraction and electron optical methods. Aqueous sols with pseudoboehmite fibrils of different lengths were dried by two methods: at room temperature and spray-dried. The following aluminas were obtained after treatment of the powders at increasing temperatures and having a range of specific surface areas: ). Spray-dried powders, fired at the same temperature than the ground powders, showed higher specific surface areas. The higher surface area alumina have values of the same order of magnitude of the commercial "ad-cat" aluminas.

The aluminum monohydroxide pseudoboehmite is a common precursor for catalysts and ad/absorbents. Fibrillar pseudoboehmite powders were synthesized by the same preparation method from aqueous sols but aged in different times: 24, 48 and 168 hours. The sol particles were from fibrillar pseudoboehmite; the average length of the microfibrils changed sample to sample, the sizes increasing with the thermal aging time. The sols were dried by different methods: at room temperatures, forming a solid membrane; spray dried; dried at 60°C and 110°C from a gel from the sol aged 168 hours; all were fired between 200°C and 1000°C in oxidative atmosphere to produce activated transition aluminas. The phases formed was identified by XRD. The aim of the present paper is to present data showing that method of drying the sol has an effect on the temperature of formation of alpha-alumina due to the anisodiametric shape of the pseudoboehmite crystals.