Encapsulation of anthocyanin-rich extract from black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) pomace by spray drying using different coating materials

Anthocyanin-rich extract obtained from black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa) pomace was microencapsulated with spray drying by using different wall materials, i.e., maltodextrin with dextrose equivalent 6 (MD6), maltodextrin with dextrose equivalent 20 (MD20) and the combination of MD20 with gum Arabic (MD : GA, 15 : 5 w/w), whey protein isolate (MD : WPI, 19 : 1 w/w), and xanthan gum (MD : XG, 19.5 : 0.5 w/w). Spray drying conditions were chosen as follows: inlet temperature of 150 °C, outlet temperature of 90 °C, 4.5 mL min⁻¹ feed flow rate, 0.357 m³ h⁻¹ air flow rate, and an aspirator capacity of 100%. Physicochemical characteristics of the powders such as moisture content, particle size, capsule morphology, color, spray drying yield, encapsulation efficiency, total anthocyanin content, total and individual phenolic content, and total antioxidant activity were investigated. With all the parameters evaluated, MD : GA wall material provided better results particularly in terms of production yield and encapsulation efficiency. To conclude, black chokeberry by-product can be used as a source of polyphenols to produce value-added colored powders with bioactive properties which might have the potential to be used in food, nutraceutical and cosmetic industries.