Physicochemical and thermal characteristics of microencapsulated Fe by electrostatic coacervation: Características fisicoquímicas y térmicas de Fe microencápsulado por coacervación electroestática

Fe (iron) is one of the micronutrients required by the human body. When Fe is directly added to the food, it can cause sensory changes in flavor and color, causing rejection by consumers. The use of techniques such as coacervation and electrostatics (electrostatic coacervation) to micro encapsulate Fe can be a solution for Fe inclusion in food. The aim of the present work was to microencapsulate Fe in sodium alginate by electrostatic coacervation using calcium chloride as crosslinker material. In a suspension of 1.5 % sodium alginate, FeSO4 was added at 16 %, 33 % and 50 %. The viscosity of alginate and FeSO4 suspensions was determined. Results showed a linear increase in viscosity in relation with the FeSO4 content. The microcapsules were obtained by dripping on a 5.5 %