Encapsulation of tea tree oil by amorphous beta-cyclodextrin powder

• Published in: Food chemistry 2017-04, Vol.221, p.1474-1483
• Main Authors: Shrestha, Meena, Ho, Thao M., Bhandari, Bhesh R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Amorphous β-cyclodextrin powder; beta-Cyclodextrins - chemistry; Crystallization; Ethanol; Ethanol - chemistry; Molecular encapsulation; Powders; Tea tree oil; Tea Tree Oil - chemistry
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2016.11.003

•A novel direct complexation of TTO with solid amorphous β-CD powder was studied.•Complex crystallized by water or ethanol markedly increased inclusion efficiency.•These methods encapsulated TTO in amounts similar to those in the paste method.•Complex crystallization due to water or ethanol was confirmed by XRD and DSC. An innovative method to encapsulate tea tree oil (TTO) by direct complexation with solid amorphous beta-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was investigated. A β-CD to TTO ratio of 90.5:9.5 (104.9mg TTO/g β-CD) was used in all complexation methods. The encapsulation was performed by direct mixing, and direct mixing was followed by the addition of water (13–17% moisture content, MC) or absolute ethanol (1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4 TTO:ethanol). The direct mixing method complexed the lowest amount of TTO (60.77mg TTO/g β-CD). Powder recrystallized using 17% MC included 99.63mg of TTO/g β-CD. The addition of ethanol at 1:2 and 1:3 TTO:ethanol ratios resulted in the inclusion of 94.3 and 98.45mg of TTO/g β-CD respectively, which was similar to that of TTO encapsulated in the conventional paste method (95.56mg TTO/g β-CD), suggesting an effective solid encapsulation method. The XRD and DSC results indicated that the amorphous TTO-β-CD complex was crystallized by the addition of water and ethanol.