Optimisation of spray drying process in microencapsulated cream powder production.

In this Research Communication we describe the optimisation of spray drying conditions in the production of microencapsulated cream powder. Oil-in-water emulsions were prepared using maltodextrin (18 DE) and sodium caseinate as wall materials (with the total wall material per total solid content ratio of 30%) and then converted into powder by spray drying. Response surface methodology was used to optimise the factors of spray drying system i.e. inlet drying temperature, feed flow rate, and aspiration rate, where the levels were in the range of 150-190°C, 9-30 ml/min, and 50-100%, respectively. Our objective was to perform spray drying with the highest drying yield and to obtain a microencapsulated cream powder with the highest bulk density, the shortest wetting time, and the lowest surface fat content. The calculated and validated optimum conditions for the spray drying process were found to be 162.8°C for inlet drying temperature, 11.51 ml/min for feed flow rate, and 72.8% for aspiration rate. At these optimum conditions, drying yield, bulk density, wettability, and surface fat content values were 36.37%, 269.9 kg/m3, 115.2 s and 26.2%, respectively.