Spray-Drying Microencapsulation of Anthocyanins by Natural Biopolymers: A Review

There has been an increased interest in the development of food colorants from natural sources as alternatives to synthetic dyes because of both legislative actions and consumer concerns. Anthocyanins are of great interest for the food industry since they give a wide range of colors as well as nutraceutical activities. Nevertheless, due to their low stability to environmental conditions during processing and storage, introducing those compounds into foods is challenging. Microencapsulation may be an efficient way to introduce such compounds into those products. An important step in developing microcapsules is the selection of a biopolymer (wall material) which meets the required criteria. Hence, this review will focus on microencapsulation of anthocyanins with different biopolymers through spray drying to develop natural colorant pigments which possess high stability, solubility, and dispersibility. Our goal is to give updated information regarding microencapsulation of anthocyanins by spray drying, as well as its effectiveness, developments, and optimized conditions which will be discussed.