Comparison of physicochemical properties and oxidative stability of microencapsulated perilla oil powder prepared by freeze-drying and spray-drying

Perilla oil is vulnerable to lipid oxidation owing to its high linolenic acid content. Microencapsulation using freeze- and spray-drying methods was applied to enhance the oxidative stability and change the physicochemical properties of perilla oil. Freeze-dried powder (FDP) possessed 11.77 to 38.48% oil content, whereas spray-dried powder (SDP) had 8.90–27.83% oil content. Encapsulation efficiency ranged from 51.22 to 85.71% by freeze-drying and from 77.38 to 90.74% by spray-drying. The oxidative stability of powders depends on the oil content and production methods. Generally, FDP had higher oxidative stability and water solubility, and lower moisture content and water activity than SDP. The particle size of FDP (154.00–192.00 μm) in volume-weight mean diameter was 2.56–24.49 times larger than that of SDP (7.84–72.03 μm). SDP had a lower volatile content at the initial time of storage than FDP, while more volatiles were observed in SDP as storage time increased. The microencapsulation method should be selected appropriately depending on the target property or usage in food applications.