Microencapsulation of PUFA Enriched Ulva Lactucaâ Oil for Commercial Applications

Essential oils are the volatile lipophilic compounds which are unable to synthesize by mammals, therefore should be obtained through diet. The objective of this study is to microencapsulate the PUFA enriched algal oil extracted from Ulva lactuca. The proximate analysis of algal powder shows that it was characterized with a high content of carbohydrates (55 %), protein (22 %), fat (1.7%), antioxidant activity (34.6%) and moisture content (0.42%). Different lipid extraction strategies have been followed and the highest lipid extraction of 28.13% v/v was achieved by Soxhlet extraction using n-hexane. Further, various antimicrobial studies as well as oxidative stability of the extracted oil was also evaluated. For commercial applications, the optimized microsphere with 6% alginate concentration, 4% cross linking agent and 15 min of the cross linking time were observed to have a sustained in vitro release profile. At pH 6.8, approximately 90 % of the encapsulated algal oil was released for a period of 48 hours. Additional coating of the encapsulated oil without antioxidant shows a shelf life of 24 days, with 0.1 % tocopherol shows maximum 32 days and 0.05% chitosan coated capsule shows the maximum 36 days of shelf life time.

Key words: Essential oil; Ulva lactuca; Anti-oxidants; Microencapsulation; Shelf life