Impact of spray drying operating conditions on encapsulation efficiency, oxidative quality, and sensorial evaluation of chia and fish oil blends

In the present investigation, the emulsion blends of chia seed oil (CSO, 50%) and fish oil (FO, 50%) were spray dried using operating conditions such as inlet air temperature (IAT 125, 140, 155, 170, 185°C), wall material (WM 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%), pump speed (PS 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 ml/min), and needle speed (NS 3, 5, 7, 9, 11s), respectively. The highest EE was obtained 83.77% ± 0.96% at 140°C (IAT), 10% (WM), 4 ml/min (PS), and 5S (NS) conditions. While the minimum EE was noted 73.40% ± 0.35% at 170°C (IAT), 20% (WM), 6 ml/min (PS), and 9S (NS), the maximum model predicted value of EE was 81.85% ± 0.90%. IAT significantly affected the EE while oxidative quality of spray-dried microcapsule (SDM) samples was improved. The sensorial scores of SDM samples were in the acceptable range. Therefore, SDM developed from CSO and FO blends can be recommended for supplementation in different food products. Practical applications In the modern age, the consumer and researcher interest has increased for the development of functional food products with excellent nutritional and stable omega enriched oils. The developed microcapsules from chia and fish oil blends at optimized spray drying operating conditions will help to design a formulation for discerning consumers to obtain omega enriched oil microcapsules with high efficiency and more sensorial acceptability.