Spray-dried microencapsulation enhances the antioxidant efficacy of Artemisia herba-alba extract in butter: insights from volatile profiling and multivariate analysis

The oxidative stability of butter enriched with an ethanolic extract of Artemisia herba-alba was evaluated in free and spray-dried microencapsulated forms. LC-HR-MS/MS identified 26 phenolic compounds, showing a total phenolic content of 94.55 ± 0.61 μg GAE/mg. Microcapsules were prepared using maltodextrin (DE19) and sodium caseinate. Four formulations (control, α-tocopherol 100 ppm, free extract 400 ppm, microencapsulated extract 400 ppm) were stored at 4 °C for 60 days. Oxidative stability was assessed through HS-SPME-GC–MS volatile profiling, CIELAB color analysis, sensory evaluation, and multivariate statistics. Lipid oxidation generated increasing levels of aldehydes, ketones, acids, and lactones, with the highest accumulation in control samples. While α-tocopherol showed the strongest protective effect, microencapsulation significantly reduced oxidation-related volatiles compared to the free extract and limited adverse sensory changes. These findings highlight spray-drying microencapsulation as an effective strategy to enhance the technological performance of plant phenolics in high-fat dairy systems.