UTILIZATION OF MESQUITE (PROSOPIS-JULIFLORA) GUM AS EMULSION STABILIZING AGENT FOR SPRAY-DRIED ENCAPSULATED ORANGE PEEL OIL

Orange peel oil was microencapsulated. Mesquite gum and its performanc e for producing spray-dried powders was compared to emulsions prepared with gum arabic. Average oil droplet size of mesquite gum capsules wa s smaller than that of gum arabic. Emulsions made with mesquite gum sh owed better stability than those made with gum arabic. Encapsulation c apacity of mesquite gum was found to be 80.5% of the starting oil wher eas gum arabic was able to encapsulate 93.5%. Sensory evaluation showe d that there was not significant difference (alpha<0.05) in flavor int ensity between orange peel oil encapsulated with the two emulsifiers.