Co-encapsulation of vitamins B12 and D3 using spray drying: Wall material optimization, product characterization, and release kinetics.

• Co-encapsulation of vitamins B 12 and D 3 using spray drying was optimized. • Gum Arabic:Hi-Cap®100:maltodextrin at 38:60:2 was the most suitable wall material. • Spherical microcapsules with better stability of B 12 and D 3 were obtained. • In vitro results indicated slow release of vitamin B 12 and D 3 after encapsulation. • Encapsulated B 12 and D 3 showed bioavailability of 151% and 109%, respectively. Spray drying is the most commonly used encapsulation technique to stabilize sensitive bioactive compounds and sometimes enhances their performance. Vitamin B 12 and vitamin D 3 deficiencies are reported worldwide and co-encapsulation can provide a combined solution to this problem. The present work aimed at encapsulation of vitamin B 12 and D 3 by spray drying using experimental design to optimize wall material combination. Optimized solution obtained from the experimental design (gum acacia : Hi-Cap® 100 : maltodextrin = 38:60:2) provided spherical particles with smooth surface and better stability of both the vitamins. In vitro release mechanism showed a slow release for both the vitamins after encapsulation. The optimized co-encapsulated microcapsules obtained in this work showed an improved bioavailability of 151% for vitamin B 12 and 109% for vitamin D 3 in comparison with the control. This study delivered a suitable medium to provide water soluble vitamin B 12 and fat soluble vitamin D 3 in single product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]