This study aims to encapsulate the crude carotene pigment isolated from waste portion of Cucurbita maxima with the help of different encapsulating agents through lyophilization to transform crude pigment into stable form for further utilization.
This paper opted for encapsulation of extracted carotene pigment by lyophilization using various carrier materials such as maltodextrin 20 dextrose equivalent (DE), maltodextrin 10 DE and tapioca starch along with emulsifier polysorbate-80. After encapsulation of crude carotene pigment, prepared encapsulated powder was subjected to chemical analysis. The data was analysed statistically by a complete randomized design.
Maximum encapsulation efficiency, carotene content, antioxidant activity and water solubility index were achieved when 0.06% of crude carotene pigment was emulsified with same quantity of polysorbate-80, followed by encapsulation with 20% of maltodextrin 20 DE during lyophilization.
Even though few researchers have worked on the encapsulation of colour pigments, no researcher has reported encapsulation of carotene pigment extracted from waste of C. maxima.
