Water-in-oil lecithin microcapsule production using an in-line mixer

This article highlights the feasibility of creating water-in-oil lecithin microcapsules, at predetermined sizes, at large-scale quantities (-80 kg/h) using the Controlled Deformation Dynamic Mixer (CDDM) mixer. The aim of this work was to create capsules with the exterior properties of oil and the fat content of water, with the impact being the replacement of oil in food formulations with water-in-oil capsules. Benchmark trials were performed using ultrasonic mixers and bench-top high-shear mixers, and the capsules created compared to those produced using CDDM technology. This work highlights that the CDDM is capable of both matching the ultrasonic mixer for capsule formulation, and can create capsules of varying size; dependent on the processing parameters used. Oil content of the capsules was reduced by over 85% resulting in water capsules with -13% oil covering the shell, enabling the capsules to maintain the exterior properties of oil but with minimal fat.