Abstract
α–Tocopherol is a well-known fat-soluble antioxidant and is widely used in the food industry for stabilizing free radicals. Incorporation and stability of it into food is another challenge as directly added α–tocopherol is prone to inactivation by food constituents. This study was aimed at optimizing conditions for encapsulation of α–tocopherol using combination of sodium alginate (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0%) as primary wall material and pectin (2.0%) as filler. The optimum conditions were selected on the basis of encapsulation efficiency, shape, size, bulk density, yield and swelling index with syringe method. The encapsulation efficiency of α–tocopherol in microencapsules produced under optimal conditions was 52.91% using sodium alginate 1.5% w/v and pectin 2.0% w/v. α–Tocopherol was encapsulated with encapsulator using standard conditions and was compared with syringe method. The encapsulation efficiency was found more (55.97%) in microencapsules prepared with encapsulator and 52.11% in microencapsules prepared with syringe.