Stirred-type yoghurt incorporated with sour cherry extract in chitosan-coated liposomes

Liposomal systems are promising carrier systems for the delivery of phenolic compounds. However, the commercial usage of aqueous liposomal dispersions is still challenging. In this study, an aqueous liposomal dispersion which was loaded with sour cherry phenolics (SCE) were converted into powder form by spray drying to make the use of such delivery systems industrially applicable. Then, the obtained SCE loaded liposomal powder was incorporated into a stirred-type yoghurt system. During 21-day storage at 4 °C, sensorial and physicochemical properties such as pH, color, and whey syneresis of yoghurt with SCE loaded liposomal powder were investigated. According to the results, SCE was successfully encapsulated in aqueous liposomal dispersion and spray dried. Spray drying process did not degrade phenolic compounds that were encapsulated by liposomes. The structure of liposomes in the sample contained spray dried liposome encapsulates with SCE (Y-encapsulated SCE) was the most stable in yoghurt during storage which also affects the stability of SCE. Thus, SCE showed the lowest degradation level in this sample among all samples in terms of total phenolics and antioxidant capacity. This means that the SCE in yoghurt with liposomal encapsulates was protected during the storage period. The spray drying process also led to an increased total dry solid and reduced syneresis. Although syneresis of yoghurt containing liposomal powder with SCE and without SCE was the lowest, control yoghurt was chosen to be the best according to the sensorial evaluation.