Microencapsulation of natural antioxidant powder from Aloe vera (L.) skin using foam mat drying method

In this study, the microencapsulation of natural antioxidant powder from Aloe vera (L.) skin was carried out using 10% maltodextrin, 0.3% tween 80 and drying at 60°C; and the product was found to have free radical scavenging activity using DPPH (88.31%), total phenol (34.921%), and α tocopherol by HPLC (87.789mg/g). The GC-MS analysis for the phyto-component shows that the major compounds identified were squalene (16.84%), limonene (14.17%), 7- tetradeecane (13.13%) n-Hexadecanoic acid (11.91%) and α-Tocopherol (4.18%). The FTIR analysis shows that the functional components in the Aloe vera skin powder were phenol, aromatic, substituted alkenes, aromatic acid halide, aliphatic acid halide, eter R-O-R, Nitro NO₂, Keton R-CO-R,vinilidene, carboxylic acid, metilene and OH. SEM analysis showed that drying process by foam mat method resulted in a structure that has the capacity to absorb water easily and can dissolved in cold water. The present findings, especially on the microencapsulation of Aloe vera skin powder will provide a new opportunity to improved the bioactive properties of the phyto-component as antioxidant agent.