Fatty acids profile of chia oil-loaded lipid microparticles

Encapsulation of poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)is an alternative to increase its stability during processing and storage. Chia (Salvia hispanica L.) oil is a reliable source of both omega-3 and omega-6 and its encapsulation must be better evaluated as an effort to increase the number of foodstuffs containing PUFAs to consumers. In this work chia oil was extracted and encapsulated in stearic acid microparticles by the hot homogenization technique. UV-Vis spectroscopy coupled with Multivariate Curve Resolution with Alternating Least-Squares methodology demonstrated that no oil degradation or tocopherol loss occurred during heating. After lyophilization, the fatty acids profile of the oil-loaded microparticles was determined by gas chromatography and compared to in natura oil. Both omega-3 and omega-6 were effectively encapsulated, keeping the same omega-3:omega-6 ratio presented in the in natura oil. Calorimetric analysis confirmed that encapsulation improved the thermal stability of the chia oil.