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Complex Coacervation for Encapsulation of Bioactive Compounds, Nutrients, and Probiotics
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Abstract
Coacervation is one of the earliest microencapsulation techniques, which has been commercially used since the 1950s. Complex coacervation involves the interaction of oppositely charged polymers in aqueous form. Gelatin-Arabic gum coacervates have been successfully produced and used in many applications, especially as vehicles for lipophilic molecules. Recently, successful strategies to encapsulate hydrophilic molecules by complex coacervation were investigated, including the production of double emulsions as a previous step before the coacervation. This technique also encapsulated particles and probiotics based on their previous immobilization in high melting point vegetable fats. Concerning polymeric materials, novel proposals based on plant proteins are growing due to flexitarianism. Also, food by-products are sources of polysaccharides, such as pectins and gums, which are sustainable polyelectrolytes to produce complexes. Complementary studies of release mechanisms are relevant to avoid the premature expulsion of bioactive compounds after incorporation in food matrixes and in vitro digestion. The scalability of complex coacervation in the food industry still needs to be explored, but combining a physical method, such as spray-nozzle, could enhance their feasibility. Thus, it is unquestionable that complex coacervation is a multifaceted microencapsulation technique, and the advances in colloid technology reflect their potentiality for the protection of bioactive compounds for food incorporation, besides many other functionalities. This protocol intends to guide the reader along the key steps to complex coacervation encapsulation, including the selection of polymers, operational conditions, the techniques for coacervate evaluation, as well as give an overview of the most critical influencing factors (e.g., concentration and proportion of biopolymers, pH, the concentration of bioactive compound, homogenization conditions, and temperature). It provides tips on how to deal with some troubleshooting, such as culturing probiotic cells before the microencapsulation, procedures for disrupting coacervates, and poor stability over shelf-life or under environmental/processing conditions.