Micro Encapsulation Essay

Microencapsulation is the envelopment of small solid particles, liquid droplets or gases in a envelop coating. Microencapsulation is based on the embedding effect of a polymeric matrix, which creates a microenvironment in the capsule able to control the interactions between the internal part and the external one. Microencapsulation allows the protection of a wide range of materials of biological interest, from small molecules and protein to cells of bacterial, yeast and animal origin (Benita, 2005). For this reason such versatile technology is widely studied and exploited in the high technological fields of biomedicine, bio-pharmaceutics, and nutra-foods for application ranging from cell therapy to drug and bioactive molecule delivery. The

An important requirement is that the encapsulation system has to protect the bioactive component from chemical degradation to keep the bioactive component fully functional. Many food components may interfere with the bioactivity of the added bioactive food component. It is therefore mandatory that the encapsulation procedure protects the bioactive component during the whole period of processing, storage, and transport (Risch and Reineccius, 1995). How efficient this package load should be depends on the type of molecule that is desired as bioactive component and the specific product that serves as vehicle. When choosing an encapsulation system with high package efficiency, it is always essential to choose a system that can be easily incorporated into the food without interfering with the texture and taste of the food (Nedovic et al.,

Emergence of a multitude of health promoting fermented milks and other pro-biotic fermented foods has largely advocated the case, due to the health promoting works of certain beneficial microorganisms that are abundantly present in the food. The health-beneficial effect of consuming food with pro-biotic bacteria is a factor contributing to the development of research on the new segment of functional food. Different types of raw ripened sausage and cured meat products are traditionally produced with the use of a fermentation process, that is, a guided decomposition process involving the meats own enzymes and enzymes of microbiological origin (Stanton et al., 2005; Leroy et al., 2006). Pro-biotic bacteria strains are successfully used in the products of processed milk products and vegetable and fruit juices; however, their use in dry fermented products is not common yet. Reports on technological aspects of microorganisms in functional foods concentrate almost exclusively on the growth or viability of related microorganisms and on the fermentation performance of microorganisms for specific food materials. After drying, fermentation is the oldest food preservation methods. Fermentation became popular with the dawn of civilization because it not only preserved the food but also increases nutrition value, bio availability, taste and functional properties of the food. Because of these