Development and evaluation of iron microencapsules for milk fortification

Iron microencapsulation is one of the best approaches to achieve controlled iron release in fortified foods as it not only reduces the apparent organoleptic problems but also increases the bioavailability of iron. The present study was carried out to prepare iron microencapsules using different methods for food fortification. Microencapsules were prepared using liposome, fatty acid esters (FAE), freeze-drying and emulsification methods. Among all the microencapsules, those prepared using FAE method resulted in lowest encapsulation efficiency (EE); however, highest EE was observed for emulsification method. Three microencapsules were selected for fortification of milk, i.e. egg phosphatidylcholine liposomes, sodium alginate (SA) and modified starch microencapsules prepared by freeze-drying method and SA microencapsules prepared by emulsification method that had EE 64.047%, 62.972% and 74.850%, respectively. Sensory analysis revealed that SA and MS microencapsules fortified milk containing 10 mg/L iron, resembled control (unfortified) milk the most as compared to others.