Investigation of structural and physicochemical properties of microcapsules obtained from protein-polysaccharide conjugate via the Maillard reaction containing Satureja khuzestanica essential oil

In this study, some common proteins including, whey protein isolate (WPI), soy protein isolate (SPI), and gelatin (G) conjugated with maltodextrin (MD) via Maillard reaction and were then used to encapsulate Satureja khuzestanica essential oil (SKEO). The higher glycation degree was obtained at a pH of 9 and 3 h of heating at 60 °C for SPI and WPI, and 90 °C for G. The results of FTIR and intrinsic fluorescence test showed the possibility of covalent binding formation between proteins and maltodextrin. The encapsulation efficiencies were obtained about 83.84 %, 88.95 %, and 89.27 % for MD-SPI, MD-G, and MD-WPI, respectively. Moreover, the Maillard reaction-based microcapsules had higher antioxidant activity than the physical mixture of protein-polysaccharide. The addition of SKEO to microcapsules improved antimicrobial activity. The results of this study demonstrated that MD-WPI and MD-G, as encapsulating materials, can be used to enhance the physiochemical properties of microcapsules loaded with SKEO.