Microencapsulation of Oxidation Sensitive Oils through Spray Drying

Project to be carried out at YKI, Stockholm, Sweden.

Background
There is a broad industrial interest in oxidation sensitive oils such polyunsaturated lipids, flavors and fragrances. The application areas for such products are found within foods, pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, personal care and home care. Often it is desirable to use these products in a dry form to increase shelf life and/or enable controlled release. In order to achieve these properties the oil has to be encapsulated in a carrier material. New and improved technologies for products with enhanced quality are continuously developed. An area receiving increasing interest is design of structured materials thorough formulation and processing.

Project
The aim of the project is to investigate how the stability of oxidation sensitive oils can be improved through microencapsulation in spray-dried powders. A barrier layer at the powders surface can be created in the spray-drying process by using surface active materials. This has been established in earlier studies, but the effect of emulsion stability and oxidation stability has not been investigated.
Within this project you will utilize surfactants and surface active polymers to create stable emulsions and a barrier layer on the surface of spray-dried particles. You will investigate the structure of the particles, encapsulation efficiency and oxidation stability of the encapsulated oil in relation to formulation and processing.

Requirements
Program: Chemical engineering, food technology, or equivalent
Courses: Surface and colloid chemistry

Start: Spring term 2007. 20 credit points.

To apply/for further information
Contact Anna Fureby, YKI
Tel: +46 8 5010 6046
[email protected]

YKI, Institute for Surface Chemistry, is the internationally leading industrial research institute in applied surface and colloid chemistry. YKI’s clients come from many industrial sectors e.g. materials, industrial chemicals, household and personal care products, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food, coatings, paint, engineering, paper, print and packaging. The business model of YKI is to understand the needs of our clients and use surface chemistry to solve industrial problems and provide the basis for new products and processes. YKI is part of the SP Group. YKI is located in a research-intensive area on the campus of the technical university (KTH) in Stockholm. See www.yki.se for further information.