Oxygen permeability and oxidative stability of fish oil-loaded electrosprayed capsules measured by Electron Spin Resonance: Effect of dextran and glucose syrup as main encapsulating materials.

The oxygen permeability and oxidative stability of fish oil-loaded electrosprayed capsules were studied by Electron Spin Resonance (ESR). Electrosprayed capsules with dextran as main biopolymer showed a significantly faster broadening (ΔHpp) of 16-doxyl-stearate ESR spectrum when compared to glucose syrup capsules. This finding indicates a higher oxygen permeability of dextran capsules than glucose syrup capsules, which is explained by a reduced average free volume in the glucose syrup matrix than in the dextran shell. Moreover, glucose syrup capsules showed a significantly lower increase in the peak-to-peak amplitude of N-tert-butyl-α-phenylnitrone (PBN) ESR spectrum during storage when compared to dextran capsules. This implies a higher oxidative stability of glucose syrup capsules than dextran capsules, which correlated well with the lower oxygen permeability of the former. These results indicated the importance of the oxygen barrier properties of the wall materials when encapsulating long chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids by electrospraying.