Bioactive compounds from orange epicarp to enrich fish burgers

BACKGROUNDThe orange industry produces considerable amounts of by-products, traditionally used for animal feed or fuel production. Most of these by-products could be used as functional ingredients. To assess the potential food application of orange epicarp, different percentages of micro-encapsulated orange extract were added to fresh fish burgers. Then, an in vitro digestion was also carried out, before and after micro-encapsulation, to measure the bio-accessibility of the active compounds. RESULTSA significant increase of bio-accessibility of bioactive compounds has been observed in the orange epicarp extract after micro-encapsulation by spray-drying. From the sensory point of view, the fish sample enriched with 50g kg(-1) micro-encapsulated extract was the most comparable to the control burger, even if it showed a higher phenolic, flavonoid and carotenoid bio-accessibility. CONCLUSIONOrange epicarp may be used as a food additive to enhance the health content of food products. The micro-encapsulation is a valid technique to protect the bioactive compounds and increase their bio-accessibility. (c) 2017 Society of Chemical Industry