Encapsulation of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. anthocyanins as natural colours in yeast

Hibiscus sabdariffa extracts, a rich source of anthocyanin, were subjected to encapsulation in yeast cells. An encapsulation yield (EY) of 208 mu g/100 mg of cells and an encapsulation efficiency (EE) of 27%, were reached after optimisation of the ratios (0.5 g wet yeast cells for 5 ml of anthocyanin extracts at 1 gL(-1)) and with 10% of ethanol. The storage stability of encapsulated pigments was investigated in water and buffer pH 1.5 at 5 & 37 degrees C for 10 days and 90 degrees C for 30 min. The percentage of loss of colour was determined by colourimetry assays. The microparticles made of yeast with or without heat treatment exhibited different protecting effects (P < 0.01). At 37 degrees C, the percentage of loss of colour in water was of 2.5% for heat-treated and 36.5% for non-treated yeast microparticles, suggesting that yeast enzymes would be responsible for the loss of anthocyanin during storage. These results are confirmed by the percentage of loss of colour which was far lower in conditions of low enzymatic activity: 3.1% at 5 degrees C for non-heat-treated cells in water. The pH of solvent had also an important effect on the degradation of encapsulated anthocyanin; in buffer at pH 1.5 and 37 with the non-heat-treated cells, the degradation decreased strongly to 9.4% compared with 36.5% in water. These results show that yeast cells are a good mean of encapsulation of pigments for a colouring purpose and that they provide anthocyanins a good protection as long as their enzymes are inactivated.