Antioxidative activity of microencapsulated aloe vera (Aloe vera var. chinensis) powder with various concentrations of added maltodextrin

Aloe vera powder contains of phenolic compound which has antioxidative properties. However, aloe vera powder has low solubility and unfavorable taste. Hence, the solubility of aloe vera powder needs to be improved by using microencapsulation technologies. Microencapsulation by spray dryer is usually done at a high temperature which is able to decrease the antioxidative activity. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the antioxidative activity of encapsulated aloe vera powder resulting from the process of microencapsulation. Microencapsulation was conducted by reconstituting aloe vera powder using aquadest at a ratio of 1 : 120. The solution was filtered and then maltodextrin added as an encapsulating agent with variations of: 2.5, 5.0, 7.5 and 10.0% (w/v). The solution was fed into a spray dryer at an inlet temperature of 130o C and an outlet temperature of 103o C, with the flow rate of solution being 350.0 mL/h. The resulting powders were analyzed for their moisture content, phenolic content and antioxidative activity based on an ability to capture free radicals of 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil (DPPH) and lipid peroxidation inhibition using the ferrythiocyanate method. The research showed that the encapsulated powders’ moisture contents were significantly different. Total phenolic content decreased with the increase of maltodextrin. The higher the concentration of maltodextrin, the lower the percentages of both RSA (Radical Scavenging Activity) and of lipid peroxidation inhibition. Microencapsulation of aloe vera powder with maltodextrin at 2.5% produced an encapsulated powder with a high antioxidative activity indicated by an RSA value of 35.59 ± 2.65% and an inhibition of lipid peroxidation measuring16.15 ± 0.73%