ABSTRACT
Color is increasingly seen as an important quality and as an acceptability indicator of the food products, because most consumers assess and purchase these products using their eyes. In recent years, consumers are placing increasing emphasis on the use of natural substances such as natural colorants in food products. One of the most popular food colorants is the carotenoids family, including β-carotene, lycopene, capsanthin, lutein, and bixin/norbixin (annatto). However, the basic problem of using natural active substances such as carotenoids in industrial applications is their low resistance to changes in heating, pH, or light exposure. In this regard, one of the methods that can be used for the protection of such natural compounds is microencapsulation. The most commonly used microencapsulation technique for bioactive compounds is spray drying, which allows obtaining a product with the desired physical properties by applying variable drying parameters such as air temperature, feed flux, and humidity, as well as by changing the type of carriers or pre-treatment of the raw material. The objective of this chapter is to describe carotenoids in terms of their chemical structure and biological activity, as well as the spray drying process as a feasible and efficient encapsulation technique for the protection and delivery of various carotenoids. The drying conditions and carrier materials are also discussed.
