STUDY OF THE EFFECTS OF THE MICROENCAPSULATING AGENT ON SPRAY DRIED GOAT’S MILK

Resumo

Spray drying enhances food biochemical stability by converting liquid formulations into powders. This method relies on carrier agents — additives introduced beforehand as solid mass fractions — which affect the final sensorial, physicochemical and morphological properties of the resulting powders. The overall purpose of this study was to evaluate the quantitative impact of different carrier agent configurations on several physicochemical attributes of spray dried goat’s milk. Drying was performed in a pilot-scale spray dryer at 150 ºC, using immediately before thawed goat’s milk supplemented with three configurations of carrier agents: (1) maltodextrin; (2) maltodextrin combined with arabic gum; (3) modified starch. pH, ºBrix and total solids were analyzed on the fresh goat’s milk, while the powders were characterized for particle size, moisture, ash content, water activity, solubility, reconstituted pH and ºBrix, as well as storage stability, colorimetry, and thermogravimetric behavior. The formulations resulted in goat’s milk powder with mean particle sizes ranging from 19.54 to 23.13 μm. Modified starch as a carrier agent was associated with a lower activity (0.127), while moisture content ranged from 2.08 % to 4.54%, ash content from 1.64 % to 2.63 %, and solubility in water between 85.24 % and 94.09 %. Upon reconstitution, soluble solids varied from 10.0 to 11.2 ºBrix, and the samples exhibited slightly more acid, with pH ranging from 5.83 to 6.27. Water activity and moisture were within acceptable preservation standards. Dehydrated goat’s milk showed moderate luminosity with a predominantly yellow hue. All three formulations displayed thermogravimetric analyses curves with independent decomposition profiles.