PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF Polygonum multiflorum THUNB. ROOT POWDER PRODUCED WITH DIFFERENT CARRIER AGENTS.

Polyphenol is a valuable compound found in plants. Unfortunately, it is quite sensitive to heat, light and oxygen in the air. This is a disadvantage making the storage of these compounds for longer periods of time difficult. However, this problem can be overcome by encapsulation with carrier agents as maltodextrin, gum arabic, modified starch, etc. The efficiency of maltodextrin (MD, DE16-19) and gum arabic (GA) on spray drying of Polygonum multiflorum Thunb. root extract was investigated. The incorporation of gum arabic to the extract had the total polyphenol content (TPC) and antioxidant capacity (AC) higher than maltodextrin. The obtained powders from gum arabic and maltodextrin were analyzed for encapsulation yield, moisture content, color parameters, total phenolic content, antioxidant capacity, bulk density, wettability, hygroscopicity, water solubility index, particle size and microstructure. The results showed the types of carrier agents which significantly affected the physicochemical properties of powders produced by spray drying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]