Microencapsulated Fish Oil Powder Formulation with Improved Resistance to Oil Leakage During Powder Compression

Abstract The effects of the addition of pectin to a primary fish oil emulsion stabilized by a heated milk protein–carbohydrate mixture, and heat treatment of emulsion at low pH (with or without the addition of pectin) on the properties of final emulsions (pH 7) and powders (~42 % w/w/fat) prepared from these emulsions were examined. Either the addition of pectin (without the additional heat treatment at pH 3), or additional heat treatment step at pH 3 (with or without pectin) reduced the surface oil and free oil of spray dried powders, and also reduced oil leakage on powder compression. However, the extra heat treatment step at low pH to the emulsion (without pectin) resulted in a greater susceptibility to oxidation of EPA and DHA in the powder. A judicious choice of ingredients for formulating and processing emulsions prior to spray drying enables the application of food‐grade microencapsulated fish oil powders in directly compressible tablet applications.