MicroencapsulateAspergillus nigerpeptidases from agroindustrial waste wheat bran: spray process evaluation and stability

Microencapsulation of a Commercial Food-Grade Protease by Spray Drying in Cross-Linked Chitosan Particles

In this study, the use of spray-drying technology for encapsulating Flavourzyme® (protease–peptidase complex) was evaluated to overcome the limitations (low encapsulation efficiency and no large-scale production) of other encapsulation processes. To the best of our knowledge, spray drying has not been applied previously for the immobilization of this enzyme. Firstly, bovine serum albumin (BSA), as a model protein, was encapsulated by spray drying in chitosan and tripolyphoshate (TPP) cross-linked-chitosan shell matrices. The results showed that the chitosan–TPP microcapsules provided a high encapsulation efficiency and better protein stability compared to the non-crosslinked chitosan microcapsules. The effect of enzyme concentration and drying temperature were tested during the spray drying of Flavourzyme®. In this regard, an activity yield of 88.0% and encapsulation efficiency of 78.6% were obtained with a concentration of 0.1% (v/v) and an inlet temperature of 130 °C. Flavourzyme®-loaded chitosan microcapsules were also characterized in terms of their size and morphology using scanning electron microscopy and laser diffractometry.

Spray-Dried Powder Containing Chitinase and β-1,3-Glucanase with Insecticidal Activity against Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae)

This study focused on obtaining a spray-dried powder containing chitinase and β-1,3-glucanase as active ingredients for the control of agricultural pests. Different carriers were tested in the spray drying of these enzymes. The effectiveness of the application of the enzymes was evaluated against Ceratitis capitata (Diptera: Tephritidae). The combination of maltodextrin (2.5% w/v), gum Arabic (2.5% w/v), and soluble starch (5.0% w/v) as carriers showed the best result of residual activity of β-1,3-glucanase (88.36%) and chitinase (69.82%), with a powder recovery of 45.49%. The optimum conditions for the operational parameters of the spray drying process were: inlet air temperature of 120 °C, drying airflow rate of 1.1 m3/min, feed flow rate of 5.8 mL/min, and nozzle air pressure of 0.4 MPa. The powder produced showed 65.6% efficiency for the control of the fly. These results demonstrated the possibility of using the spray drying process to obtain an enzymatic potential product for biological pest control.

Stabilization and application of spray-dried tannase from Aspergillus fumigatus CAS21 in the presence of different carriers

The Aspergillus fumigatus CAS21 tannase was spray dried with β-cyclodextrin, Capsul® starch, soybean meal, lactose, and maltodextrin as adjuvants. The moisture content and water activity of the products ranged from 5.6 to 11.5% and from 0.249 to 0.448, respectively. The maximal tannase activity was achieved at 40-60 ºC and pH 5.0-6.0 for the powders containing β-cyclodextrin and Capsul® starch, which was stable at 40 ºC and 40-60 ºC for 120 min, respectively. For all the dried products, tannase retained its activity of over 80% for 120 min at pH 5.0 and 6.0. Salts and solvents influenced the activity of the spray-dried tannase. The activity of the spray-dried tannase was maintained when preserved for 1 year at 4 ºC and 28 ºC. Spray-dried tannase reduced the content of tannins and polyphenolic compounds of leather effluent and sorghum flour and catalyzed the transesterification reaction. The spray drying process stabilized the tannase activity, highlighting the potential of dried products for biotechnological applications.