Flavor encapsulation using electrostatic atomization

• Main Authors: Ackerman, Jr., Thomas E, Gundlach, Michael, Bunchean, Benjamin, Su, Chin-Ping, St. Peter, Glenn R, Sobel, Robert M
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 19.12.2023
• Subjects: ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE OILS, FATS, FATTY SUBSTANCES AND WAXES; BLASTING; CANDLES; CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOIDCHEMISTRY; CHEMISTRY; DETERGENT COMPOSITIONS; DETERGENTS; DRYING; DRYING SOLID MATERIALS OR OBJECTS BY REMOVING LIQUID THEREFROM; FATTY ACIDS THEREFROM; FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; FOODS, FOODSTUFFS, OR NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES, NOT COVERED BYSUBCLASSES A23B - A23J; HEATING; HUMAN NECESSITIES; LIGHTING; MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; METALLURGY; PERFORMING OPERATIONS; PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL PROCESSES OR APPARATUS IN GENERAL; PRESERVATION OF FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS, IN GENERAL; RECOVERY OF GLYCEROL; RESIN SOAPS; SHAPING OR WORKING OF FOODSTUFFS, NOT FULLY COVERED BY ASINGLE OTHER SUBCLASS; SOAP OR SOAP-MAKING; THEIR PREPARATION OR TREATMENT, e.g. COOKING, MODIFICATION OFNUTRITIVE QUALITIES, PHYSICAL TREATMENT; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS; THEIR TREATMENT, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES; TRANSPORTING; USE OF SINGLE SUBSTANCES AS DETERGENTS; WEAPONS

Disclosed is an electrostatic spray drying process for encapsulating a core material, such as a volatile flavor oil, within a carrier or wall material. The process is achieved by atomizing a liquid emulsion comprising the core material and the wall material, applying an electrostatic charge at the site of atomization, and drying the atomized emulsion into an encapsulated, free-flowing powder. Applying an electrostatic charge at the site of atomization allows the spray drying to be accomplished at significantly reduced temperatures, in particular, inlet temperatures in the range of 25° C. to 110° C., and outlet temperatures in the range of 25° C. to 80° C. The low drying temperatures impart improvements in the resulting encapsulated powdered product, including better retention of volatile flavor components, a flavor profile comparable to that of the starting liquid formulation, and better hydration and dissolution in water-based applications.