Storage Stability and Physicochemical Properties of Flaxseed Oil Microencapsulated with Chinese Quince Seed Gum

The main objective of the present investigation was to evaluate the potential of using the seed gum of Chinese quince (CQSG) as a wall material for flaxseed oil microencapsulation via freeze-drying. The stability, distribution of different sized droplets, and viscosity of the different emulsions stabilized by CQSG with various flaxseed oil concentrations were measured. The systems with the core/wall material ratios (w/w) of 4/6 and 5/5 created more stable emulsions in that no phase separation was observed after 20 days of storage. The smaller average droplet sizes and higher zeta potentials of these systems as compared with those of other emulsion systems indicated that they had the best emulsifying properties. Freeze-drying microencapsulation using CQSG as a wall material clearly protected the flaxseed oil from oxidation as cores in the microcapsule powders. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the freeze-dried microcapsules typically showed a crumpled, somewhat porous structure. The results showed that CQSG could be used as a wall material for microencapsulation and that flaxseed oil encapsulated with this material could be used in the food industry as a functional ingredient.