No abstract

In the present work aromatic essential oils obtained from orange (OO), basil (BO), cinnamon (CNO), and citronella (CO) were encapsulated in natural gelatin matrices through inverse suspension processes and the effects of oil encapsulation on the formation and morphology of the obtained gelatin microspheres were analyzed. Particularly, it is shown that each oil affected the course of the encapsulation process differently, leading to decrease of the viscosity of the dispersed phase of almost 70% during the reaction course, when compared with oil‐free gelatin solutions. Additionally, the interfacial tensions of the aqueous solutions containing essential oils were slightly higher than in absence of oils. Particle size distributions of the final particles were relatively broad, while the obtained beads presented spherical morphology and irregular surfaces. Finally, the thermal resistances of the oil‐containing microparticles were higher than observed in absence of oil, despite the relatively low oil contents of the final products.