Tailoring Olive Oil Microcapsules via Microfluidization of Pickering o/w Emulsions

In this work, surfactant-modified starches were prepared by reactive extrusion (REX) and used as stabilizers for olive oil-in-water Pickering emulsions. The referred starches are waxy maize starch phosphate (P-MS), octenyl succinic anhydride maize starch (OSA-MS), and octenyl succinic anhydride rice starch (OSA-RS). Pickering emulsions were emulsified by microfluidization and spray-dried to evaluate the efficiency of encapsulation and the protective effect of starch derivatives in the encapsulated olive oil. Results showed that OSA-RS presented the smallest particle size and the most electronegative zeta-potential. Among the considered starches, OSA-RS possesses the best characteristics as surfactant to improve emulsification and digestibility of oil-in-water Pickering emulsions. On the other hand, P-MS has the ideal properties to be used as wall material for spray drying to increase oil stability and reduce digestibility of microcapsules.