Improving the Efficiency of Betulin-Containing Food Ingredients From Silver Birch (Betula Pendula Roth.) in Food Systems

Abstract

The demand for food micro-ingredients in modern technologies is quite high, however, the production of preservatives, antioxidants and other food additives in the Russian Federation is extremely limited, which has created a high import dependence unacceptable in modern conditions. Raw sources of preservatives include birch bark containing 10–40% betulin – a triterpenoid with high biological activity and preservative / antioxidant properties. However, the weak solubility of betulin in an aqueous medium hinders its use in food products. In this work, a study was carried out to develop a method for obtaining a micronized form of betulin for use as a food ingredient in food products of various compositions. The following values of parameters and modes of ultrasonic micronization of water suspensions of betulin were established: frequency – 50±5 kHz, acoustic power – 50 W, temperature, about 50 °С, duration 60 min. It is shown that the micronization of betulin under ultrasonic exposure indicates an increase in the uniformity of its aqueous suspension of betulin, the alignment of the size and shape of particles, which minimizes the influence of barrier factors during the assimilation of a food additive and determines its effectiveness and bioavailability in the composition of both water-based and fat-based foods.