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Background: Strawberry by-products were explored as sources of anthocyanins for the extraction of natural colorants in the development of new value-added products for the food industry. For this purpose, the stability of strawberry anthocyanin extracts was evaluated for color and total anthocyanin content. The anthocyanins were encapsulated with inulin to protect them from processing at high temperatures and exposure to light. Microcapsules were obtained by two drying processes (spray and freeze drying) in order to study their use as coloring ingredients for their use in the food industry., Methods: Thermal (using the response surface methodology - RSM) and light stability tests were performed, simulating long-term processing and food storage. Antioxidant activity, total anthocyanin content and color analysis were quantified using several methods, and the microcapsules were characterized using scanning electron microscopy. Anthocyanins and their derivatives were identified by high resolution mass spectrometry., Results: The strawberry extracts showed high antioxidant capacity and total anthocyanin content. The RSM of the thermal stability test showed that temperature is the variable with the most significant effect on color stability and total anthocyanin content. The anthocyanins showed more stability at 50°C/60 min, 57°C/102 min, 93°C/18 min and with up to 8 days of light. Microencapsulation of the strawberry extracts with inulin obtained by spray and freeze drying improved the stability of anthocyanins. The spray drying process can offer better applications for the food industry due to the more regular shape of the microcapsules, which supports the potential use of strawberry by-products as coloring ingredients for application in the food industry., Conclusions: This study can serve as a technical reference for the development of anthocyanin microcapsules with inulin from strawberry by-products obtained by spray drying, resulting in stable natural colorants to be used as ingredients in the food industry.

Background: In our study, oleoresins were explored for their ability to replace the original ground spice and herbs with a standardized taste and aroma, and mask the salt reduction. In order to protect taste and aroma oleoresins from high temperature, and to improve their solubility in food matrices, encapsulation with inulin and maltodextrin was carried out from two mixtures of oleoresins using two drying processes (spray and freeze drying), thus allowing it to be used as an additive to reduce salt for convenience in the food industry., Methods: The oleoresins experiment was conducted with two mixtures to apply to meat and fish. Oleoresins were obtained by solvent extraction, and the solvent was removed by evaporation, encapsulated into inulin and maltodextrin microcapsules, and powdered by spray and freeze drying. Physicochemical analyses were carried out using several methods (drying yields, water activity, solubility, hygroscopicity, color, encapsulation efficiency), and characterization of the microcapsules was done by scanning electron microscopy. The total phenolic compounds were quantified using the Folin-Ciocalteau method, and the chemical compounds present in the microcapsules were elucidated by high resolution mass spectrometry., Results: Freeze and spray drying the microcapsules presented good quality products with high yields, high encapsulation efficiency and good solubility. The spray drying process can offer better applications for the food industry due to the more regular shape of the microcapsules. In addition, inulin microcapsules obtained by spray drying showed a more protective effect for flavonoid compounds in fish oleoresins, while maltodextrin microcapsules offered more protection for hydroxycinnamic acids in meat oleoresins., Conclusions: The present study shows an attractive encapsulation system for non-volatile compounds from oleoresins, which results in standardized taste and aroma products that can reduce salt in food systems with different compositions.