The overall goal of this thesis was to use plant-based materials to encapsulate omega-3 oils to produce microencapsulated powders with improved stability against oxidative stresses. This research includes four studies (Chapter 3, 4, 5 & 6). Chapter 3 examined the complexation behaviour of lentil protein isolate (LPI) and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) with different degree of substitution (DS; 0.7, 0.9, and 1.2) and molar mass (MM; 90 and 250 kDa), and their thermodynamic properties. For complexation behaviour, max optical density was conducted at 4:1 LPI: CMC mixing ratio. MM and DS had no significant effect on critical pH values but impacted the size and number of complexes formed. The complexation reactions of all LPI-CMC mixtures at pH 3 was energetically favorable. Chapter 4 and 5 compared the complexation behaviour of LPI with various polysaccharides, including CMC, gum Arabic (GA), alginate (AL), ι-carrageenan (ι-C), and κ-carrageenan (κ-C), and the resulting emulsifying properties. For chapter 4, at 4:1 LPI-polysaccharide mixing ratio, LPI-GA and LPI-CMC mixtures formed coacervate-type of complexes, while precipitate-type of complexes were formed with LPI-AL and LPI-ι-C systems. Their resulting complexes at pHopt were used to make emulsions. LPI-ι-C emulsion displayed the highest emulsion stability (ES) due to its high emulsion viscosity, lower mean droplet sizes, and highly negative-charged droplets. For chapter 5, incorporating ι-C and κ-C into the LPI solution led to suppression of complexes formed. Emulsions prepared with the resulting soluble complexes at pH 6 showed significantly higher stability than those made with insoluble complexes at pH 3.5 for each sample. The greatest ES was attributed to 4:1 LPI-κ-C and LPI-ι-C emulsions at pH 6. Chapter 6 developed the LPI-polysaccharide based microcapsules to encapsulate flaxseed oil. LPI-κ-C and LPI-ι-C emulsions with maltodextrin at pH 6 were prepared, followed by spray-drying or freeze-drying to yield the dried capsules. Spray-dried capsules showed higher oil encapsulation efficiency, but the encapsulated oil was oxidized significantly due to heat effect during drying and lower water activity of the capsules. Flaxseed oil was stable in all freeze-dried capsules during 8 weeks of storage. For in vitro oil release profile, more oil was released from LPI-κ-C powders under simulated gastric fluid, but more oil was released from LPI-ι-C powders under subsequent simulated gastric fluid and simulated intestinal fluid regardless of drying method and oil content.
This research suggested that there is great potential to use the resulting emulsions to make plant-based microcapsules to deliver omega-3 oils
